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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27632038">The Glow</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onlyabstract/pseuds/Onlyabstract'>Onlyabstract</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword &amp; Shield | Pokemon Sword &amp; Shield Versions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff, Post-Game(s), Psychic Abilities</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:16:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,028</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27632038</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onlyabstract/pseuds/Onlyabstract</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A fairy forest like Glimwood Tangle deserves a bit more complex lore and dynamic than it gets in the game. Hopefully this adds to it.<br/>______<br/>The thoughts are broken by a sharp sting of pain in his skull, his heart rate stuttering and blood running cold. He sways on unsteady feet as images rush past his hazy vision - muted red, an explosion of dust, Gloria twisted on the ground. His chest constricts hard enough to rip his breath away, the slim tendrils of daylight that stream through the dense canopy of the tangle have faded - darkness filling the village, the gym, everything. <i>Gloria twisted on the ground.</i> Broken sobs paired with the roars of a furious beast. <i>Gloria twisted....</i> The glow of the mushrooms are monstrous, evil. An omen. Something is calling from the forest, the cry inaudible to most, but pulling the marked one in.<br/>______<br/>In which Bede realizes he doesn't want Gloria to vanish as much as he had thought.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Beet | Bede/Yuuri | Gloria</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>61</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a project born from attempting to keep myself occupied at work (which is very, very slow) and inspiration drawn from the many, many other fics I've read from this pairing the past few weeks. I wish I could remember exactly which ones helped me to reach the point of writing again, but I didn't keep note of them ;_;</p><p>So thanks to everyone still keeping pokemon fanfiction afloat I suppose! You're all wonderful.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>”Unbelievable, after all this time you are still an absolute prick.”</p><p>”And look who keeps waltzing back in here all the damn time despite that.”</p><p>It was always like this with them.</p><p>Visits started with huffs of annoyance. Quips traded on last televised battles and what they did wrong. Hasty resolutions to the ‘necessary reasoning’ for the champion’s trip to the fairy gym, then pokes at her inability to handle the responsibilities herself. All ending with some dramatic exit and a claim of not wanting to see his face again anytime soon…</p><p> And yet she always came back. Like clockwork, Gloria would march through those glass doors and bother Bede at least once a week. Acting as if the previous week's argument had never happened. Always having some new, strange excuse to be there.</p><p> Bede was growing tired of it. Of her face, her voice, her fiery glares, her stupid accent that was all the more obvious the more heated she got. And <i>especially</i> the way she made his blood thunder through his ears, his heart pound a bit harder than he cared to acknowledge. How each time he noticed her lingering in the entrance, waiting for him, the more time she spent lingering in his thoughts.</p><p>It was stupid. Absolutely stupid, a worthless waste of his headspace and energy.</p><p>And he was beyond ready to put an end to it all, even if meant he missed her presence the following week or month. Just as long as she’d give him enough space, enough time, to work his way out of the vice grip she’d placed on his heart.</p><p>So maybe he was biting back a bit too hard. Maybe he was being a prick. Whatever it took to get her to vanish from his sight and stay gone this time.</p><p>The girl grit her teeth, the freckles on her nose dancing as her face wrinkled with annoyance.</p><p>”Fight me.” She barks, voice trembling with ire.</p><p>His gaze narrows, it’s hard to turn down a challenge but he knows better. Knows she will stay much longer than a battle if he accepts.</p><p>”Why would I waste my time doing that?”</p><p>She scoffs, “you’re just afraid you’ll lose, like you always do.”</p><p>A flame ignites in his gut at that, his hands curling into fists. As if he isn’t already <i>very well aware</i> of this fact, the last thing he needs is a reminder spat in his face so jeeringly. He’d spent months training his team up to steal her title in the last champion cup, only to be swept aside like dust in a windstorm.</p><p>She can see she’d struck a chord, a coy smirk slipping over lips - “what, did I get ya all flustered by stating the obvious?”</p><p>He swallows the insults aching to jump from his lips. “Get lost, Gloria. I’m not dealing with you today.”</p><p>Her hand props itself on her hip, so very smug. “Bet I can beat your whole team with just my haxorus.”</p><p>He can’t hold back the clipped laugh that bubbles up his throat. “What a ridiculous challenge. That oaf of yours can hardly hold itself upright.”</p><p>Anger flashes through her eyes, vanishing a second later as that smirk stretches into a grin. “Should be an easy enough fight for you then!” She says with a shrug, backing towards the doors of the gym. “Or you can torchic out I ‘spose. If you really think you can’t handle my ‘oaf’.”</p><p>His jaw clenches and he tears his gaze from her toying face. His fists are shaking at this point - mind swirling with a mix of thoughts telling him to knock that shit eating grin off her face with a proper fight, or to stay back and let her walk off alone.</p><p><i>Don’t give into it, she’ll never leave you alone if you go. Stop playing into her schemes.</i> But part of him is still against the thought of chasing her off for good, doesn’t want her to vanish completely. He can’t squish it down.</p><p>The doors slide open with a mechanical whirl, her voice singing over them - instructing him to meet her in the tangle or admit to being a wimpod.</p><p>With that, she vanishes from sight. A breath held far too long escapes Bede and that flame in his gut smolders, still present, but no longer all consuming. It’s ridiculous how much of an effect her presence has on him. Without her stupid <i>pretty</i> face eyeing him down he doesn’t care about her dumb challenges and threats. Couldn’t care less about being called a wimpod or a torchic or whatever other rude name she thought up.</p><p>
  <i>Not like she’ll remember any of this next week anyway.</i>
</p><p>He pauses, staring out into the colorful village beyond the glass doors, then presses his palms to his face - hissing out a swear. She’s still going to come back next week. <i>Damnit.</i> Clearly he hadn’t done enough to convince her otherwise if she wanted a battle now. <i>How much is it going to take?</i></p><p>He doesn’t know how much more vitriol he has in him. Not a stranger to being a prick, not in the slightest, but not the best anymore - and certainly not to Gloria who he’d long realized had helped him get to where he is now. What could he be angry about? <i>Well</i>, other than constantly wiping stadium floors with his team, which wasn’t exactly her fault but more his own for never training hard enough.</p><p>
  <i>Why does she spend so much time here anyway… What does she want from me?</i>
</p><p>The thoughts are broken by a sharp sting of pain in his skull, his heart rate stuttering and blood running cold. He sways on unsteady feet as images rush past his hazy vision - muted red, an explosion of dust, Gloria twisted on the ground. His chest constricts hard enough to rip his breath away, the slim tendrils of daylight that stream through the dense canopy of the tangle have faded - darkness filling the village, the gym, everything. <i>Gloria twisted on the ground.</i> Broken sobs paired with the roars of a furious beast. <i>Gloria twisted....</i> The glow of the mushrooms are monstrous, evil. An omen. Something is calling from the forest, the cry inaudible to most, but pulling the marked one in.</p><p>
  <i>Gloria.</i>
</p><p>Curled in a field of white, eyes wide in terror. A shock of red on her check.</p><p>
  <i>She’s in trouble.</i>
</p><p>Bede rushes out of the gym, panting through the lump that had formed in his throat. It’s day again, the village gently bustling with its residents and the few tourists early for the coming art fair. Morelull and inkay chirp excitedly at him from the brush, the glow is warm and whimsical again. All is as it usually is. </p><p>Yet it feels unsettlingly quiet after that rush.</p><p>He swallows, pushing a shaking hand through his white curls, thankful no one had noticed his episode. <i>It’s been a while since one that big has happened.</i> The vision is already fading from his memory as the rich, earthy air clears his mind. The adrenaline slowly seeping out of his system.</p><p>But her name still rings through his ears, dull and distant, panicked.</p><p>...Maybe she was still here…</p><p><br/>
</p><p>
  <b>______</b>
</p><p><br/>
</p><p>”Fuckin’ finally! You’re slower than a dreadnaw!!.” Gloria shouts as she catches sight of Bede's fluff of white hair. It’s reflecting the soft greens and pinks of the mushrooms’ glow and she wonders if he’d ever considered coloring his hair - it’d be so easy with those startlingly pale locks.</p><p>He doesn’t respond, simply passes her an aggrieved look and stuffs his hands into the pockets of his gym shorts.</p><p>There’s something keenly off this time, but she can’t put her finger on what it is. He does look a bit paler than usual, like he’d just seen a specter, but it could simply be the poor lighting.</p><p>So she pushes on as usual, “Decide you want to give it a go then?” She holds up her haxorus’ luxury ball. “He’s just dyin’ for a good fight.”</p><p>He glares off absently into the woods before huffing a sigh, “fine.” Then a grin breaks over his face, “only because it’ll take less than five seconds to knock out that poor excuse for a pokemon.”</p><p><i>There he is!</i> Gloria grins. “We’ll see about that.”</p><p>Her haxorus, Mjölner, is admittedly a little inexperienced - but he’s hardly an oaf. Just needed a little extra training and a battle against the fairy gym leader was one of the best ways to get said training. As the massive dragon’s form materializes in front of her, eclipsing the view of her rival, that inexperience is clear. All that boundless energy leaves the beast unable to sit still. Stomping its feet and letting out little huffs of anticipation.</p><p>...And the battle goes quick. Gloria has both watched and personally battled Bede enough to remember the typical order of his team. Mawile is down in the blink of an eye with earthquake, gardevoir putting up a lot better of a fight and getting enough hits on Mjölner to make him stumble - but the KO from shadow claw is clean either way.</p><p>Bede, clearly growing irritated by the way his eyebrow twitches as rapidash drops out of exhaustion, skips sylveon all together and throws out his primary partner pokemon. Gloria is half expecting a dynamax before she remembers where she is at the moment, giving her head a sharp shake and grinning at the sight of the pokemon. She can’t let her dragon lose now, not when he’s gotten this far.</p><p>Haxorus struggles to get the advantage while hatterene zips around him with perfectly timed teleports, a learned method of avoiding the pokemon’s abysmal speed. She finally freezes in place as Bede commands a full attack and Gloria doesn’t even need to give haxorus the order to use shadow claw. He strikes and hatterene stumbles, but only for a moment, countering not a second later with an attack that sends Mjölner flying straight back into....</p><p>Gloria’s eyes widen and she can’t jump away fast enough.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>______</p><p><br/>
</p><p>The monstrosity of a pokemon, clearly tailored to be some sort of fairy killing machine as if to spite him, finally toppled with Hatterene’s attack. Falling backwards into a pile of gold and black scales in the brush, eyes rolling from the impact.</p><p>Bede grins, crossing his arms. “I think your oaf has had enough, time to call it and admit defeat…”<i>finally.</i> Even if it’s a cheap, clearly skewed win - it’s still a <i>win</i> in his book. His first win against the damn farmyard-raised, loud-mouthed, vulgar…</p><p>The silence finally meets his ears - really draws his attention - where are the swears, the rude names, and laughs? It’s way too quiet.</p><p>”Gloria.” He bites out, realizing she isn’t where she had been when the battle started. How could she be if she’d been standing behind…</p><p>
  <i>Gloria twisted on the ground.</i>
</p><p>He nearly trips over exposed roots and scattered leaves as he races into the brush - finding her slumped on the ground beneath one especially large mushroom. Eyes closed, arm bent at a severe angle, unresponsive to his shouts and delicate shakes of her limp frame.</p><p>Hatterene is screaming at him from behind, overwhelmed by <i>his own</i> overwhelming worry, and just as concerned for the knocked out champion. Her haxorus is stirring amidst the chaos, clearly growing more and more distressed.</p><p>
  <i>Damnit, Gloria, wake up already!</i>
</p><p>He pulls back from the girl with a stunned look on his face, struggling to resolve this mess while the thunderstorm of unwelcome emotions is raging in him. Like a constant loud buzz in his ear, clouding over everything else. He forcibly takes a long breath, having to re-do it a few times as he coughs over the anxiety constricting his throat. <i>Calm the fuck down. Need to take this step by step.</i></p><p>He snags the pokeball that had rolled into the thick bushes on her impact and attempts to calm the now raging and scared haxorus, a right challenge considering the sheer difference in mass between the young man and pokemon. He gives hatterene a quick order to watch over gloria and she floats into the brush with a cry.</p><p>The beast wants nothing to do with him and he’s finding that his heart is pounding horribly hard, mouth going dry as his gaze lingers on the massive tusks on it’s maw. <i>I really hope it didn’t hit her with one of those things.</i> A stray image from earlier flits past his eyes, a shock of red on her cheek.</p><p>He shakes the thoughts away, “hey, hey, it’s okay.” His voice trembles with this strained, soft tone. “Everything will be fine. Gloria needs you to calm down and return to your ball.”</p><p>It’s a feeble attempt at doing this pleasantly, but clearly failed as haxorus roars. Bede swears, falling back a few steps as it swings its head wildly.</p><p>”Nope. That’s not going to work.” He resigns, chucking the ball at the pokemon as if catching it himself.</p><p>The ball goes dark and he scoops it up, ready to take on the next challenge of this whole fiasco - though his brow is furrowed and stomach churning unpleasantly as Gloria comes back into sight.</p><p>Hatterene is bent over her, cooing as her wispy hand carefully brushes over the clearly broken arm. Gloria stirs just a bit, face pinching up momentarily as he calls her name - but does not wake.</p><p>With a cringe, shaky sigh, and vow to not give any of this too much thought - Bede scoops the fallen champ into his arms, gritting his teeth against the way his limbs tremble beneath her solid weight. Her scent he’d scarcely noticed in passing, fresh and earthy like a grass plain after a rainstorm, is now filling his head. Images of woolo, hay bales, and a distraught family clouding his mind.</p><p>”Get us to the hospital, Hatterene. Quickly please.”</p><p>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm thinking I'll upload on Tuesdays/Thursdays but who knows, I've never been good at keeping a schedule. Expect about 7 or 8 chapters!</p><p>In lieu of making a playlist or soundtrack for this fic (as I usually do) The Glow prt. 2 by the Microphones is decidedly the music for this one. 'Cause I use the word Glow so often... and it's a wonderful album c:</p><p>Anyway, let me know what you think! I'm not totally use to writing these two. Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Btw - I don't want to go overboard with accents, it makes it far too hard to understand. I'm thinking it's a mix of northern UK-ish(?) for the Postwick gang.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>How the hell did this happen?</p><p>Bede rubs his face, the underscores of his eyes growing dark and deep. It’d been at least two hours since they’d left the woods and he was now seated in a horrendously uncomfortable chair, leaning over the sleeping champion. The wires and tubes plugged into her body are disconcerting and he struggles to look at anything but her face. The only sound in the sterile white room are the beeps tracking her steady heartbeat. He swore his own was beating thrice between each trill of the machine.</p><p>Broken arm, thankfully easily mended… Probable concussion… but otherwise she was perfectly fine.</p><p>No doubt she’d think otherwise the minute she awoke to the news of mandatory rest for a few weeks. No battles. No meetings. No big events.</p><p>Basically, no champion until she’d fully healed</p><p>It’d be funny, had he not felt guilt and worry weighing him down. He knew he’d been at least part of the reason she was in this state, though every ounce of him wanted to shirk the responsibility and believe otherwise.</p><p>Maybe he could let go of it… if she’d only open her eyes.</p><p>A knock at the door startles him and he launches away from her side so quickly he nearly topples over in the chair. The hinges squeak open and a woman totally foreign to him walks through. He’d expected Hop or Leon, maybe Marine. But who is…</p><p>
  <i>Oh fuck wait…</i>
</p><p>It’s her mom. The face, the hair… of course it’s…</p><p>”Hello, are you the one who helped my daughter?” She speaks, her accent an exact replica of Gloria’s save for the lame attempts of the latter’s to disguise it.</p><p>”Y-yes.” He sputters, then clears his throat and sits a bit straighter - assuring he’s masked the shock sitting on his face. “She had an accident in the woods, her arm is broken and the doctors expect a concussion but she’ll be fine otherwise.”</p><p>The woman tut-tuts and brushes the brown locks that had fallen from Gloria’s twin braids out of her relaxed face. “Oh she won’t be happy to hear that though…” Her gaze lingers, lovingly, on the girl before swinging back up to him.</p><p>He tries to fight the embarrassment rising to his cheeks under her steady stare. <i>Why did I stay here… Obviously her family would come to check on her. She’s fine and I hate hospitals anyway.</i></p><p>”Are you that fairy gym leader she’s told me so much about?” She questions, kind and warm.</p><p><i>She told you about me…?</i> “Yes…” He has a normal spiel for these moments, for new challengers and when meeting fans, but he can’t find the words.</p><p>The door bangs open, saving him from the blunder, as Hop rushes into the room at top speed. He skids to a stop in front of the bed, panting, tears building in his eyes.</p><p>Bede’s eyes roll and he stands from the chair, figuring he doesn’t need to linger with these two watching over her. The cringe of worry still tugging at his heart strings should be ignorable… she’s <i>fine</i> of course.</p><p>
  <i>Gloria twisted on the ground.</i>
</p><p>His jaw clenches at that flash in his mind. <i>She’s fine!</i></p><p>”What happened?!” Hop shouts, hands clamping onto Bede’s shoulders.</p><p>He yanks away fast, startled and glaring at the guy. “Accident in the tangle. She’ll be fine.”</p><p>”In Glimwood?! What was she doing all the way out there!” He’s still yelling. “She was supposed to meet me for dinner!”</p><p>Bede snorts, a swell of pride at the thought she’d skipped on plans with Hop to see him instead. <i>No. I shouldn’t want that.</i></p><p>”I don’t know, ask her.”</p><p>Hop’s chin tips back and it almost looks as if his entire spirit has slipped from his body with the sigh he releases. “Arceus, why’s it gotta be you here? Makin’ everything so damn complicated for us.”</p><p>Irritation flares and he bites back, “speak for yourself bursting in here and howling like some backwater beast while she’s trying to rest!”</p><p>”Oh stuff your gob, ya pompous arse. She’s out cold. Don’t go bad mouthin’ me for being worried!”</p><p>Bede’s about to retort but Gloria’s mother speaks up.</p><p>”Both of you quit it. We don’t need an all out brawl in the hospital room.”</p><p>He falls back with a hardening glare, cheeks blazing in reignited embarrassment. <i>It’s your damn fault for making me look like a fool in front of her mom.</i> He’d had enough of Hop before he’d even met the guy… Any extra time around him was beyond overkill.</p><p>”Sorry ma’am.” Hop answers, matching Bede’s glare before turning back to look at Gloria.</p><p>Bede takes the chance to make his way for the door, disregarding the quiet shouts of protest coming from some small portion of his mind.</p><p>”Excuse me.”</p><p>He pauses at the sound of the mother’s voice, passing a glance over his shoulder.</p><p>”It’s Bede, right?”</p><p><i>Fucking hell, I didn’t even give her my name. I look like a right fool.</i> “Yes, that’s correct.”</p><p>She smiles kindly, “thank you for bringing her in and watching over her. I will make sure she thanks you as well.”</p><p>The hairs at the back of his neck prickle, “that’s not necessary. Have a good evening.”</p><p><br/>
</p><p>______</p><p><br/>
</p><p>She awakes to a darkened room and a quiet machine-like beeping. It’s cold and the thin blankets draped over her body do nothing to fight off the chill. A pain radiates from her arm that’s forcibly packed against her chest, an unbearable warmth that almost smarts exploding over her right cheek.</p><p>Confusion settles in, the last thing she remembers is standing in Glimwood Tangle and directing her pokemon in battle. Now her arm is wrapped up in a cast…? <i>What the hell happened?</i></p><p>She tries to sit upright, the pain she thought was only present in her arm and cheek is suddenly ricocheting up and down her spine. A groan slips past her lips and something rustles in the corner of the room.</p><p>”Gloria? Are you awake?”</p><p>”Mum?”</p><p>It’d been a few months since she’d seen her last and as a light clicks on to expose her tired face she’s unsurprised to see she looks exactly the same - just slightly stressed. The woman hadn’t aged a day since Gloria can remember.</p><p>The sight of her punches in a feeling of homesickness instantaneously. As wonderful as her apartment in Wyndon was, nothing compared to home with the wooloo and Mum’s dead brilliant cooking.</p><p>”How are you feeling, dear?”</p><p>Gloria sits back slowly in the bed, hissing at the pain that continues to press on her bones. “Everything hurts… Do you know what happened?”</p><p>”From my understanding, an accident in the woods near Ballonlea. The gym leader you blether on about brought you in.”</p><p>”Oh, Bede. That’s right…” He’d been the one she was fighting. How had she forgotten that? It’d been her haxorus and his hatterene battling in the tangle when haxorus flew back and…</p><p>A sharp sting at her cheek makes her wince and cry out in surprise, her good hand drifting up to touch the burning skin.</p><p>Her ma is off the couch and by her side assessing the wound before the cry even fully leaves her lips. The skin is inflamed and raw, some form of an angry rash that prickles all the more at each touch. Tears bead on Gloria’s lashes as she squeezes her eyes tightly shut.</p><p>”What is this… is there poison ivy or oak in those woods?” Mum asks after drawing her hand away, she rubs her thumb and forefinger together as if the rash had left a residue.</p><p>”I don’t know… I don’t think so?” She mumbles as the heat wanes just a bit, she’d never heard of any danger in the tangle save for the chance of getting lost on the dark winding paths.</p><p>”Mum sighs, “why don’t you call that friend of yours, maybe he’d know. I’ll fetch a nurse.”</p><p>Gloria prickles at the thought of calling him for help. No way in hell, especially not after a knock out in the woods that planted her in a hospital bed. He would never let her live this down.</p><p>No, she wouldn’t ask for a thing… Not until she properly whopped his smug ass like she <i>would</i> have had she not been standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. <i>Bet he’s feeling pretty damn good about himself right now, what a lucky break on his part.</i></p><p>”You just wait until I’m out of this bed.” She grumbles to herself.</p><p>”What was that?” Mum asks as she reenters the room with a woman clad in a nurse coat.</p><p>”Nothing, ignore me.” Gloria says with a smile and dismissive wave of her good hand. “All’s fine, yeah?”</p><p>The nurse’s face pales, “oh goodness… that doesn’t look good.”</p><p>Her heart skips a beat, “I-it’s just a rash, bet I slid a bit in the dirt. Can’t be anything serious.”</p><p>Both the nurse and her mother frown at that.</p><p>”It’d be best to get the doctor’s opinion. May I look a bit closer, miss Gloria?”</p><p>She closes her eyes before they can roll and lets out a soft breath of resignation. <i>I just want to leave though.</i></p><p>”Yeah, go on.”</p><p><br/>
</p><p>______</p><p><br/>
</p><p>A full day goes by before Gloria is able to leave the hospital. Tests and conversations with the doctor take far too long, poking and prodding at her mind, her cheek, and her arm. No concussion, but required aftercare as if so, the doctor calling it a ‘nasty knock’. She’s given an ointment and a statement of ‘sensitive skin’ regarding the still raging rash on her face. And to top it all off, a broken arm means no extraneous activities until it’s healed… and <i>apparently</i> the televised tournament she’d been planning with Bea and Marnie fell into that category.</p><p>She’s left in a bitter mood as they send her and her mother back to Postwick by train (a sky taxi would be too bumpy after head trauma <i>apparently</i>). The world is flat back when they finally arrive home and although she’s exhausted from the entire fiasco, the last thing she wants to do is sleep. She’d spent far too long in a bed the past day.</p><p>So she sits outside with an old fashioned lantern and greets the sleepy wooloo that traipse over to her from the fields. The light does little to expose the dark farm, but the way it bathes her little spot against the shed in a warm orange light is pleasant. Hearing the soft clomps of coming wooloo as they emerge from the shadows, studying the strange shadows painting pictures on their unruly fur… the muddy, wild scent to the brisk air… it’s certainly all better than lying about in the sack for another couple hours.</p><p>”This is absolute mudsdale shite.” She grumbles into the full fluff of a wooloo desperately in need of a sheer. The fur is coarse with moisture and crinkles as she digs her good hand into it. “What am I gonna do stuck at home like this?”</p><p>The pokemon bleats excitedly and struggles from her grip, she let’s go - slightly offended until she sees what got the little booger so excited.</p><p>”You can spend time with your old mate!”</p><p>A smile swims it’s way onto her dour face, “hey Hop. Bit late to be out for you innit?”</p><p>He slumps down to sit beside her against the shed. He smells fresh out of the shower and Gloria quickly notices the dark circles under his eyes. Sonia certainly kept the guy busy at the lab. “Could say the same to you, how you holdin’ up?”</p><p>”Fine.” She says, pauses, then groans and lets the back of her head rest against the shed. “Pissed about having to cancel all my plans for the next few weeks. I’m <i>fine</i>, a broken arm ain’t all that serious. It’ll mend.”</p><p>He shrugs, “I get what you’re saying but it’s best to be careful, bein’ the champ and all. Wouldn’t want you forced to give up the title ‘cause of a small injury turnin’ serious.”</p><p>Her eyes roll, “baaah… it’ll be fine. This champ’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”</p><p>He laughs and shakes his head a bit, “aye, forever stubborn as a tauros.”</p><p>”How’re things at the lab? You look a bit puggled.”</p><p>He smiles brightly, and she can’t help but mirror. Her friend’s excitement for his new dream is both admirable and adorable. He always lights up when the topic arises.</p><p>”Ah, you know, always something I could be doing better. Always something new to learn. But I’m right buzzed for what we’re working on next, we’ll get to head out to the crown tundra for a bit and I ain’t been out there yet. Guess Sonia wants to look a bit more into the history of…”</p><p>Hop continues on with the same fervor, his excitement clear.</p><p>But Gloria is quickly distracted. In fact, she starts and gets to her feet - interrupting her friend.</p><p>”What’s it, Gloria? You look like you saw a ghost!” He says with a laugh.</p><p>She stares into the dark, far beyond the little warm circle of lantern light, beyond the fields even. Face pale save for the angry red that seems to glow on her cheek. “You didn’t hear that?”</p><p>”Hear what?” Hop says, standing as well and following her gaze. “Did you hear something from the weald? It’s probably just a skwovet or somethin’.”</p><p>She shakes her head, “no. It was a voice.”</p><p>He furrows her brow at her, concern clear in his amber eyes. “I didn’t hear anything, Glo.”</p><p><i>How? It was so loud… No… Not loud just, scary.</i> “It was like someone was breathing down my neck, but they weren’t… here… but much further away…</p><p>He stares at her for a long moment, analytical, and she matches his gaze with a look of fear, her lip pouted out just a bit at the thought of his disbelief.</p><p>His eyes soften, “I think you may be hearing things, you should get some rest. It’s been a rough few days.”</p><p><i>I did not imagine that!</i> She swallows the thought, “I s’pose.”</p><p><br/>
</p><p>______</p><p><br/>
</p><p>That night… long after her mother had retired to bed and Hop had made his leave… She walks. Eyes closed, mind elsewhere, she walks circles through her room - blindly bumping into furniture. A whisper of something on her lips.</p><p>She doesn’t remember it come morning.</p><p>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks again for reading!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bede is engrossed in directing and planning when his rotom phone buzzes the first time. The art fair is a yearly event in Ballonlea and this is the first time he’s been left to organize it almost entirely by himself. Opal away on some mission to find some new ‘exquisite talent’ to showcase means he doesn’t have much guidance for the task. It’s stressful, and has kept him busy since that day in the hospital…</p>
<p>...Thankfully.</p>
<p>Gloria and those stupid wisps of the vision remain mostly tucked in the back of his mind throughout the day. Much too busy setting up stands and attempting to contact artists. Not to mention the usual work of upkeep with the gym on the off season.</p>
<p>He eventually catches a break between meetings with volunteers and companies looking to lend materials. He tugs at the turtle neck of the sweater he’d chosen today, an attempt to beat off the coming cold months - but all this running around has left him overheated nevertheless.</p>
<p>So he skips on tea and pulls a cold drink from the gym’s breakroom fridge, letting go of long breath as he sits in one of the old, creaky chairs. He can hear people shouting as they try to navigate some rather large pieces through the stadium doors. With so little space in the village they frequently use the gym’s field for this event. It’s always such a pain to drag stuff in, and even more of a pain (and cost) to fix up the field after the fact.</p>
<p>Though he is entirely certain he can handle this festival himself, wants to <i>prove</i> to both his mentor and himself that he can do it with gusto, he secretly wishes the old bat would come back sooner rather than later. If anything, just for some company and a second opinion on some stuff.</p>
<p>He’s no art expert. Is fairly certain most people that remember his name see him as an art <i>wrecker</i> more than anything…</p>
<p>He stops that train of thought with a long drink from the bottled lemonade.</p>
<p>When his rotom phone buzzes this time he notices, tugging the device from his pocket and letting it whizz to life and announce the voice call from some unknown number.</p>
<p>He peers at the string of digits, wondering who the hell would be calling him at this time. <i>Maybe Opal on some bar phone? She’s always misplacing her own rotom phone.<i></i></i></p>
<p>
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<p>
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<p>With that in mind, he answers. “Hello, this is Bede.”</p>
<p>The voice that explodes at him over the line nearly makes him drop his drink out of shock. <i>You heathen, where the hell did you get my number?!</i></p>
<p>“Aye you knob, da fuck ya do to my friend?!!” Hop yells, his accent strong enough to make Bede recoil into the chair in disgust. “I’ve got half a mind to skip over there and beat your ass!”</p>
<p>”What? How did you get my number?” He replies, struggling to hold in his ire.</p>
<p>”That doesn’t matter right now!! Tell me what the hell you did to Gloria!!”</p>
<p>His stomach knots up in ropes, <i>oh fuck.</i></p>
<p>“Is she okay?” He asks without thinking, too caught up in the sudden swell of worry. Then quickly adds, “I didn’t <i>do</i> anything to her.”</p>
<p>”Oh now you’re gonna act like you give two shites?”</p>
<p>Irritation flares immediately and Bede stands, slamming the lemonade on the side table, its contents spilling with the force. “The hell are you saying?! Of course I care, I’m the one who brought her to the hospital! I despise that place!”</p>
<p>He slaps a hand over his mouth, thankful the break room is empty as a blush flares hot on his cheeks - realizing exactly how <i>much</i> he’d just said.</p>
<p>”Oh wow, so noble of ya.” Hop mocks, oblivious to Bede’s embarrassment, “just tell me what happened! You never explained yourself before!”</p>
<p>His mind is racing, heart pounding - “what is going on? What is wrong with her?!”</p>
<p>”Answer me you cotton-headed arsehole.”</p>
<p>Bede pinches the bridge of his nose as if that somehow could relieve some of his annoyance. They’d get absolutely nowhere if they kept bickering like this.</p>
<p>”Would you cut it with the insults. We had a battle in the tangle. She was using her haxorus against my team and it took a hard hit, sent it flying back and it knocked her into the brush too.”</p>
<p>There’s a pause and silence crackles over the line before Hop states, “that’s it?”</p>
<p>”Would you <i>please</i> tell me what is going on with her now? Last I heard she was fine.” Bede pleads, further annoyed that he has to resort to such measures.</p>
<p>”Better idea. Get out to Postwick to have a look for yourself. I can text you her ma’s house number.”</p>
<p>Go <i>there</i>? He’d never been that far south of Motostoke, never really had much interest in venturing into those wastelands. Not to mention the horror he felt at the thought of seeing her mother’s home… Where Gloria grew up in her cozy little house with her happy little family and friends…</p>
<p>...<i>But I need to know what is happening.</i></p>
<p>He glares at the wall across from him as the thoughts swirl and that latent guilt bubbles, “I can’t just up and leave right now.” He sighs, “let me go finish this meeting, then I’ll try to catch a taxi out of Stow-on-Side.”</p>
<p>”Right. See you then.” Hop says, hanging up.</p>
<p>Bede presses his fists against his temples, <i>what the fuck have I gotten myself into?</i></p>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>______</p>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>The cab drops him in the center of Wedgehurst - the closest town to the tiny village Gloria and Hop called home. The air is rank with the scent of farm animals and crops, though he has to admit it's quite crisp and refreshing despite the scent. It’s colder here as well and he’s glad he’d thought to grab a jacket before venturing out - no way to know how late he’d be stuck here and all.</p>
<p>Postwick isn’t listed on any nearby signs, leaving him to question the locals for directions. He thought Gloria and Hop had a bad accent but it was nothing compared to these people who lived and breathed backwater lifestyle on the daily. The person he found who could properly direct him nearly had to repeat themselves five times over before Bede fully understood what they were saying.</p>
<p>Just a short trek down a route lined with tiered farm fields, bordered with stone walls in place of fencing. The rolling hills and distant snow-capped mountains for scenery make it a quick walk and soon he’s at the small cluster of homes that somehow warranted a town name.</p>
<p>Hop is standing at the bend of one of the stone walls, a moss-covered cottage up a poorly executed staircase just beyond him. Bede sucks in a long breath of air and let’s it out slowly in preparation, then calls out to the young man so occupied with his rotom phone.</p>
<p>”Hey, finally showed up!” Hop says with a grin that looks more like he’s baring his teeth than sharing his happiness.</p>
<p>”I told you I had things to take care of beforehand.” Bede answers, doing his best to stay civil despite the annoyance already stewing. “Where’s Gloria?”</p>
<p>”Inside, resting ‘fore her mum whops her for not following the doctor’s instructions.” He says with a nod towards the house. He slips the rotom phone away and adjusts his fur-lined jacket before stepping up the stairs, “follow me, they’re expecting us.”</p>
<p>Bede stays a pace behind the guy, eyes catching on the elaborate garden in the front courtyard of the house. It’s pretty, he has to admit there’s some amount of wild charm to this area. He finds it very reminiscent of Gloria herself… Then catches himself at the thought and buries it away.</p>
<p>Hop knocks at the front door, it feels like he’s knocking at Bede’s head. He steps back and rubs his forehead - ears beginning to ring. <i>No, stop, not right now.</i> His vision blurs into a swirl of greens and whites and he swears he can hear Gloria’s voice… tingles at the feeling of her hand in his own…</p>
<p>It all fades instantly, leaving him dizzy, as the front door opens and her mother grins at the two waiting outside. It’s like whiplash as he’s escorted into the house with pleasantries and see’s the very girl who’d just overtaken his senses seated at a kitchen table with an ice pack against her cheek.</p>
<p>His heart pounds hard in his chest as she looks up to him, exhaustion clear on her face for a second before something else sparks - he can’t tell what. He feels sick to his stomach.</p>
<p>”Hey, never thought I’d see the two of you waltzing into my ma’s house together.” Gloria says with a joking smile, “or even cooperating for that matter.”</p>
<p>Hop takes a seat at the table across from her, Bede finally gathers himself and leans against the wall nearby to listen - uncomfortable with the thought of taking up space in the house.</p>
<p>”I may have stolen his number from your phone, figured he might know a bit more about what’s going on with you.” Hop says, “how’re you doing?”</p>
<p>Her gaze flicks back to Bede again and he crosses his arms, looking anywhere but at her.</p>
<p>”Same as I was before, just tired… I can’t sleep.” She says flatly, clearly talking to the disinterested gym leader. “Guess every time I do I start sleep walking.”</p>
<p>That draws his attention back, “sleepwalking…? Is that some rare symptom of a concussion.”</p>
<p>Gloria slumps in the chair and glares at Hop, “don’t think he’s gonna be much help either.”</p>
<p>Hop stands abruptly from the chair, leans across the table and pulls the ice pack away rather forcibly.</p>
<p>Her face is red. Shockingly red. From the apples of her cheeks down to just about the base of her neck. Practically glowing with the angry hue.</p>
<p>Bede’s stomach sickly churns. The abnormally malicious glow of mushrooms flicking through his thoughts.</p>
<p>”She doesn’t have a concussion.” Hop snaps, “and you don’t have sensitive skin, Glo! You worked on the damn farm for years with all that dirt and shit. It’s absolute bollocks to think a  couple minutes in the tangle is gonna give you a rash like that!”</p>
<p>Bede sneers, “is that what they told you?”</p>
<p>Gloria nods, snagging back the ice pack to press it to her cheek - she winces as it makes contact. Hop slams back into the chair with a huff.</p>
<p>”It’s tauros shite!” He adds.</p>
<p>Bede takes a step forward, “as much as I loathe to agree with this moron, he’s right.”</p>
<p>Hop glares at him, “Aye! I thought you called a truce on the insults, cotton-head!”</p>
<p>”Shut it!” Gloria shouts, startling both of them. She pins Bede with a glare - “do you have any idea what's going on? You were there when this all happened and you would know the most about the tangle out of us lot.”</p>
<p>”I don’t know much.” He replies, “you did hit one of the mushrooms when you fell. Could be the spores.”</p>
<p>He takes another step forward so he’s standing at the head of the table, he holds his hand out to her and gestures to the ice pack. She rolls her eyes and reluctantly hands it to him. The rash is much grosser up this close, it almost looks like the skin is starting to bubble beneath it. There’s a sheen of moisture clinging to the inflamed skin and he can’t tell if it’s condensation from the ice pack or something else.</p>
<p>”Would Opal know more?” Hop asks, “she seems to be the type to know that kinda stuff, I mean, she’s ancient so she must have seen something similar by now.”</p>
<p>”Hop that’s rude.” Gloria says without moving.</p>
<p>”Wha-”</p>
<p>Bede cuts him off, “she may, but she isn’t available right now.”</p>
<p>He leans a bit closer, her scent filling his head again, accelerating his pulse, but he ignores it the best he can. “Does it hurt?”</p>
<p>”It burns like an absolute bitch.” She answers.</p>
<p><i>Fuck, what the hell is this.</i> He desperately wishes he had an answer, despises the way his gut wrenches and his chest constricts with the feeling of something <i>horrible</i> happening. <i>Despises</i> the fact that it’s happened to <i>her</i> of all people, couldn’t it have been him instead…?</p>
<p>He squishes the thought and steps back. “It’s disgusting.”</p>
<p>”No shite!” Gloria spits back at him with a glare, clearly offended.</p>
<p>”I’ve never heard of anything like this happening.” He mumbles, wracking his memory for anything - from the training, from the emergency gym manuals, from the old folk in Ballonlea. “I think there may have been something about the pink mushrooms… but I can’t remember for the life of me.”</p>
<p>”It was a pink one I hit too, I’m guessin’.” She says in this resigned way that makes him feel all the worse.</p>
<p>”I’ll call Opal. I don’t know if she’ll answer… or if she’ll even know anything. There’s some old books up in her attic I can look through too. But…” A frown tugs at the corner of his mouth, “I don’t have an answer right now. I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>Gloria’s eyes widen a bit with surprise.</p>
<p>”Arceus.” Hop moans, dropping against the table. “This is so frustrating. I just want answers and <i>no ones</i> got any.” He sits up again quickly, “she’s been hearing things too, ya know. Scary soundin’ things.”</p>
<p>Gloria blinks and shakes her head lightly like her mind has been off in some other world - “yeah, like someone’s talking right behind me when no ones there.”</p>
<p>Bede’s brow furrows, “what is it saying?”</p>
<p>”I…” She frowns, “I can’t really tell. It’s like some unintelligible growling.”</p>
<p><i>Jeeze… I don’t like this. Not at all.</i> He sighs, “I’ll do what I can. I’m busy beyond belief with this art fair stuff, but I’ll try.”</p>
<p>Gloria’s face lights up into a full smile, the first one since they’d entered the house. “Oh yeah, I forgot about the art fair. I’m excited to see what you do with it, Bede.”</p>
<p>He can feel a blush rising and he shrugs.</p>
<p>”Surprised they let <i>you</i> have any hand in it.” Hop grumbles.</p>
<p>”Hop, shut up.” Gloria snaps.</p>
<p>”I’m leaving.” Bede states flatly. “I’ve not had a single minute to breathe all day. I’m going home.</p>
<p>Gloria stumbles up from the table a bit too quickly, the chair squeaking awfully on the tile. “I’ll walk you out!”</p>
<p>He grimaces, ready to tell her he can manage to find his way to the door in this tiny place - but she’s already up and guiding him out the room. He grumbles, passes Hop an aggravated look in parting, than follows Gloria.</p>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>______</p>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>She leads him all the way outside and to the top of the stairs before he speaks up - “I got it from here, Gloria, I’m not incompetent.”</p>
<p>She laughs, “I know. I just wanted an excuse to step outside. Mum’s been watchin’ me like a talonflame since we got back from the hospital.”</p>
<p><i>Well yeah, she’s worried about you.</i> “You <i>do</i> need to rest. A broken arm is reason enough, let alone all this other stuff.”</p>
<p>”yeah, yeah, yeah.” She waves her good hand dismissively. A smile curls her lips and a spark flashes in her eyes - a look he recognizes well. “I want a rematch by the way, you best not take that slip up as a win.”</p>
<p>He snorts, <i>of course she’s…</i> “that’s the last thing you should be thinking about.”</p>
<p>”It’s all I <i>can</i> think about! I refuse to leave it like that!” She shouts, “Mjölner will beat your team all by himself.”</p>
<p>A smirk finds its way onto his face, “doubt it… but we’ll see. Once you’re healed… and maybe in an actual gym this time rather than the middle of the woods.”</p>
<p>Another laugh, “probably a good idea.”</p>
<p>He starts down the stairs, “go rest, Gloria.”</p>
<p>”Bye, Bede, and thanks for the help.”</p>
<p><br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Opal doesn’t answer her phone.</p>
<p>Bede calls over the span of at least three days, staggering the times and even waking up hellishly early to try to catch the woman. It never goes through. She’d always been stubbornly reluctant to learn how to properly work the rotom phone so leaving a voicemail isn’t an option either. He’d try asking around Galar for her if he hadn’t been relatively certain she’d shipped herself off to another region without warning.</p>
<p>Always the <i>frustratingly</i> spontaneous and mysterious one, that Opal.</p>
<p>He does manage to find the key and pole that allows him access to the attic without her help, though. That evening after finishing with the tasks for the day he hunts down a flash light from the old rusty tool box at the back of an overstuffed China cabinet and ventures up into the dusty space.</p>
<p>His sylveon follows along for moral support because even the ‘fearless and hardened’ Bede, as he likes to believe, is a bit spooked by cramped spaces of ancient buildings in the middle of the woods.</p>
<p>He peeks into the dark room, shining the beam of light around the space. It’s cluttered with boxes and bags - coated in years of dust. There’s enough shit up there that he’s rather convinced all the previous occupants had abandoned belongings over the lifespan of the house.</p>
<p>The beam falls onto an overturned box of books and he clambers the rest of the way up the drop ladder. Opal had mentioned these old guides, encyclopedias, and folktale books had been left up here - but never had a good reason to dig them out. So he lingers over the case while Sylveon putts about the dark bravely. He checks over each book to see what could possibly be of aid in this strange situation and pulls 5 from the stacks - tucking them under his arm.</p>
<p>”Sylveon, come on. No reason to stay up here.” He calls as he realizes she’d slipped away between the crates somewhere.</p>
<p>A dull ache grows at the back of his head and the ever present dread that’s sat in his gut since he’d seen the state of Gloria swells up to greater heights. He tries to tell himself it’s just the odd feeling that comes about in attics, but a part of him <i>knows</i> it’s something more. The same part that keeps spitting strange images at him.</p>
<p><i>Something</i> is going to happen. And he <i>should</i> be worried. <i>Should</i> be scared.</p>
<p>He swallows the gross feeling in his mouth. Sylveon leaps up onto one of the crates with a thud and he jumps - dropping the stack of books. The pokemon smiles and yips to him excitedly - oblivious to his distress.</p>
<p>His rotom phone buzzes, whizzing up to present the caller’s name. The one he’d just added to his contacts as [do not answer].</p>
<p>He doesn’t follow that instruction.</p>
<p>The call is set to speaker and he answers, “hello?”</p>
<p>”Aye, I know this is a long shot but…” Hop sounds scared, his voice wavering. It sets Bede’s stomach to stone. “‘Ave you seen Gloria?”</p>
<p>”No.” The ache in his head expands. “Why…”</p>
<p>”She ain’t home. Ain’t in the fields. We’ve no idea where she got off too. Thought maybe she’d found her way over to you.”</p>
<p>His heart skips around and Sylveon finally catches wind of his stress - cooing worriedly. “Did you check her apartment in Wyndon?”</p>
<p>”Yea. Just looked. No sign of her.”</p>
<p><i>Shit, shit, shit.</i> That part of his mind is telling him this is it. This is where his fear is coming from.</p>
<p>It says this: <i>The glow is an omen. Pulling the marked one in.</i></p>
<p>And he forgets the books all together and starts rushing down the ladder. Sylveon crying out and chasing after him.</p>
<p>”I’ll look around town. Let me know if you find her.”</p>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>______</p>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>Nothing in the village. There’d have been a buzz with the residents if they caught sight of the champion this late in the day.</p>
<p>The gym’s closed and locked for the night and he highly doubts she’d have used the champ’s master key to get in there without talking to him first.</p>
<p>He hates the idea of looking through the tangle but that hindbrain is practically screaming at him to go in. Nearly willing him to march straight into the brush rather than use the paths.</p>
<p>He gives in and follows the impulse, though does stick to the path and treks carefully. It’s a right dangerous place at night, no doubt of that and no prior knowledge needed to reach that conclusion. This area of Galar is packed so densely with towering, gnarled trees that it’s almost always dark - even at the height of the day. Sunlight scarcely pierces that dense top layer of leaves. The bioluminescence of the mushrooms easily plays tricks on the mind and the mischievous nature of wild fairy pokémon only warps it all the more.</p>
<p>The air is still, not a sway of a branch or leaf. Darkness yawns before him, dotted with little lights of green and yellow that hardly do anything to expose the forest in this blackness. The only sound that meets his ears is his unsteady breaths and the soft crunch of dirt and stray sticks under his shoes. His pounding heartbeat a constant soundtrack to his worry.</p>
<p>Not a single pokemon shows itself, which he finds stranger than the silence.</p>
<p>
  <i>She can’t possibly be in here…</i>
</p>
<p>A distant light grows, a soft pink glow, he freezes in his steps. Breath catching. He’d never noticed how sparse that color is in these woods.</p>
<p>A crunch of a twig to his left makes him jump and swears under his breath, tugging at the neck of his jacket with trembling hands. <i>Pull yourself together you wimpod.</i> The sound is from beyond the path, deep in the growth. He fights against his hesitation and better judgement - too caught up in the worry and desperate want to see Gloria’s face, to get that relief of knowing she’s okay - and steps in.</p>
<p>Pushes through the brush.</p>
<p>Past the trees marked with warnings to challengers that they’ve strayed from the path.</p>
<p>There's a figure deep in, beyond twisted branches, silhouetted by that pink glow. It turns and he recognizes the way the uneven hair sways with the movement.</p>
<p>”Gloria!” He shouts, his voice breaking that silence like a sonic boom. He picks up the pace, not caring that his footfalls sound like earthquakes in this dense foliage.</p>
<p>She runs.</p>
<p>His heart skips a beat, <i>why the fuck would she run?</i></p>
<p>A pang of pain at the back of his head - <i>she’s not awake.</i></p>
<p>He chases.</p>
<p>The distance between the two closes fairly quickly despite the uneven ground. She’s uncoordinated and stumbling despite how confident her run appears. He manages to get close enough to wrap his arms around her waist and slam them both to a stop.</p>
<p>She struggles against him, shouting wordlessly.</p>
<p>”Gloria, stop! It’s me, it’s Bede!”</p>
<p>Her good arm swings back and cracks across his face - the impact enough to stun and cause him to stumble. Releasing her. She tumbles into the bushes with the sudden loss of support.</p>
<p>His face smarts and he’s totally gobsmacked by the fact she’d just <i>hit</i> him… But able to move with the spike of adrenaline and snags her ankle before she stands. Keeping a hand on her at all times as he helps her upright, he gently grabs her jaw and steadies her shaking head.</p>
<p>Her oak-colored eyes are clouded with this milky mist. The angry rash on her cheek burns against his light grasp - throbbing.</p>
<p>She raises a hand to hit him again and he dodges just in time, letting go of her face but keeping a steady hold on her shirt so she can’t run again.</p>
<p>”Gloria!!” He yells, voice cracking with the horror clutching his throat. “Wake up!! Snap out of it… just <i>stop</i>!!”</p>
<p>The girl stills and when he looks back to her eyes they’ve cleared. She blinks harshly, bewilderment and confusion clear on her face as she looks around. Realization as she notices him standing over her - grasping her shirt like it’s a lifeline.</p>
<p>”Bede…?” She says, voice soft</p>
<p>He exhales in relief. <i>She’s back.</i></p>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>______</p>
<p><br/>
</p>
<p>She has no idea where she is, how the fuck she got here, or why the hell Bede is looking at her like she’d died and come back to life right in front of his eyes. All she knows is that she feels down right <i>exhausted</i>, like she could pass out at any moment.</p>
<p>It’s cold, way too cold. She’s coated in mud and her knees sting like she’d scraped them raw. There’s a fog in her head that makes it all the harder to think clearly, and the dark surroundings only leave her all the more confused.</p>
<p>”What’s going on…?” She asks, her mouth feels like it’s been stuffed with cottonee down.</p>
<p>”I… I don’t know..” Bede answers. His voice so unsteady, dripping with fear and confusion.</p>
<p>It startles her. She’s never heard him sound like that.</p>
<p>He shakes his head, white curls bobbing with the movement. His voice sounds normal when he speaks again: “We need to get out of here.”</p>
<p>They’re in the tangle, she finally realizes. <i>Deep</i> in the tangle, with no sight of any trails or familiar markers. It’s pitch black save for the glow of mushrooms, which feel almost scary to her at the moment. Like their living, breathing, conscious things with some sort of ill intent against her.</p>
<p>She’d love nothing more than to get out of these woods. Just wants a warm bed and an explanation for how the <i>hell</i> they ended up out here.</p>
<p>She tries to take a step and a snarl of wood and leaves snags her ankle - she pitches forward and he catches her quickly before she hits the ground.</p>
<p>”Are you alright? Can you walk?” He sputters.</p>
<p>She steadies herself with a firm hold on his arm. “Y-yeah. I jus’ tripped.”</p>
<p>He takes her hand and guides her out of the bush carefully, “lean on me if you have too. Come on.”</p>
<p>She follows his advice, putting some of her weight on him - moving as close to his warmth… to something familiar… as she can. She’s struck by how glad she is that it’s him here in the woods with her, that it’s him bracing her with an arm wrapped under her shoulders. The clean smell of fabric softener and hint of vanilla that clings to his gym jacket eases her nerves.</p>
<p>She knows she can trust him, and that’s comforting.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bede cracks the bathroom door open just enough to set a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt on the counter. Though the shower curtain is entirely opaque he does his best to not even look at the <i>reflection</i> of the tub. He closes the door and lets out a breath, continuing to keep himself busy while Gloria showers off the mud and other residue from the tangle. He grabs a thick blanket from his bed and throws it through the dryer to warm it up, unable to forget the way she’d shivered his arms the entire way out of the woods.</p><p>Once that’s done and there's a steaming cup of tea and warm blanket on the couch for her, he finally calls Hop back.</p><p>”She was <i>where</i>?!” The guy shouts over the line.</p><p>”In the middle of the tangle. She’s fine now, I’ll watch over her until tomorrow.” Bede replies, rubbing at his face. There’s a shadow of a bruise forming on his cheek bone where she’d gotten that hit in. She was much stronger than she looked.</p><p>”What? No way, we’ll come get her!”</p><p>He swallows the annoyance and mild offense he’d taken at that. “There isn’t a single cabbie that will take you to Ballonlea this late at night. I don’t even know how the hell she managed to get here herself… but she’ll be fine. There’s a spare room.”</p><p>Hop huffs, “fine! Whatever. Tell her to text me please.”</p><p>”I don’t think she has anything with her. She was standing out there in fucking pajamas, Hop.”</p><p>He groans, “seriously?! What the hell… I’ll be there at the crack of dawn to check on her... “ a pause and his voice turns acidic, “don’t do anything weird to my friend, cotton-head. Bye.” The line cuts abruptly and Bede sighs, <i>I am so tired of dealing with him.</i>

</p><p>The floorboards creek behind him and he spins, a blush rising at the sight of Gloria - a towel draped over her shoulders, rubbing tiredly at her eyes, and dressed in his own clothes - a smidge too big on her petite frame.</p><p>He turns away, attempting to cover the heat on his face with a hand. “There’s tea and a blanket for you here.” He grumbles</p><p>”Thank you.” She takes a seat on the couch and tugs the blanket towards her - excitement flaring on her face as she realizes it’s been warmed up.</p><p>His ears are burning now too and he clears his throat as if that can somehow save him from the blushing.</p><p>”What happened to your face?” Gloria asks.</p><p>He blinks, realizing after a second that she isn’t blatantly pointing out the blush… <i>So she doesn’t remember.</i> “You decked me back in the woods.”</p><p>”I whot?!” She blurts, startled by her own volume.</p><p>He rolls his eyes, “you punched me.”</p><p>”Did no’! Don’t go tryin to stress me out all the more here!” She grabs the cup of tea and takes a long draw from it. “You may piss me off to the absolute heights of hell… but I’d never punch you.”</p><p>He takes a seat in the armchair Opal usually occupies, feeling so very wrong about it. “Well I’m sure our esteemed, knowledgeable champion would never dare go off trail in the tangle either.”</p><p>She frowns, her bottom lip sticking out in an almost pout. “Shite, I’m sorry, Bede. I’ve no idea what happened. I wasn’t myself.”</p><p>”You don’t remember how you got here, do you…” He mumbles.</p><p>Her head shakes and she tugs the blanket around her shoulders - clearly struggling quite a bit with the gimpy arm so he reaches out to pull it the rest of the way around her - cocooning her in it. She thanks him softly and buries her nose in the warmth.</p><p>”I know ma and Hop have been waking me up a lot the past few days.” Her voice is muffled by the fabric, “saying I’m sleep walking and trying to get out the house at night. Swear I’ve not slept more than 3 hours honestly.”</p><p>He peers at her, looking small and cozy all wrapped up like this. It’s fucking <i>adorable</i> and he hates himself for thinking so. He props his elbow on the chair’s arm and rests his chin on his knuckles - “sleepwalking… seems like it's much more than just that.”</p><p>She blinks, “what do you mean?”</p><p>”You ran from me, hit me when I grabbed you, had this weird fogged look in your eyes. It’s like you were possessed.”</p><p>Her eyes grow wide and he’s fairly certain her jaw is hanging open behind the blanket. “Are you for real? That’s downright fucked! What is…” her voice fades and her gaze drops to the coffee table, eyebrows drawing together. When she speaks again he can hardly hear her, “what is wrong with me.”</p><p>His breath catches in his throat at the obvious look of distress on her face. “We’ll figure it out.” He says flatly, a bit loud, saying it to reassure both her <i>and</i> himself.</p><p>Her eyes return to him, expectant.</p><p>”I wasn’t able to reach Opal but…” He stands abruptly from the chair, "the books! I did find books. I’ll be right back!”</p><p><br/>
</p><p>______</p><p><br/>
</p><p>She watches as he disappears around a corner, shouting behind him in after-thought that she ‘better not move from that spot’. A short, soft laugh escapes her and eases some of the tension in her shoulders. <i>Who’d have thought he could actually be somewhat considerate?</i></p><p>It’s a challenge to ignore the fear stirring within her: how she managed to get from Postwick to Ballonlea without a single pokemon, the fact that she’d walked off into the tangle alone, and was so out of it that she ran from and punched a friend. How ridiculous… and horrifying.</p><p>What luck someone had come to look for her. What <i>luck</i> she was seated on a couch, warm, rather than dead in the woods right now.</p><p>
  <i>Holy shite…</i>
</p><p>She stops that train of thought, shuddering and carefully sticking her good arm through the blanket’s opening to take a sip from the tea - anything to distract enough until her suddenly, surprisingly-kind friend returns. Just then noticing how elaborate and pretty the cup was.</p><p>She’d totally forgotten Bede still lived with Opal, and as she peers around the cluttered, frilly space she nearly laughs at the realization that the decor suited him as much as it did the old woman. How he honestly fit the entire aesthetic of Ballonlea quite nicely.</p><p>She jumps as his voice precedes him down the hall - “Not sure what I was thinking with the folklore books but…”</p><p>He’s holding a stack of five, thick, old looking books with binding that’s split and ripped. A journal emblazoned with the fairy gym’s logo rests on top. He sets the stack down on the coffee table and takes a seat at one end of it.</p><p>”I thought they may say <i>something</i>. At this point any amount of information would be helpful.” He grumbles, resting an elbow on the table and propping his chin up.</p><p>She leans forward and pulls off a dust bunny that had stuck in his thick curls, smiling as his face blazes red and his gaze moves off to a corner.</p><p>”Folk tales are much more helpful than you’d think. It kinda saved our hides back when Rose…” Gloria’s voice fades, “well. Ya know.”</p><p>”Right.” He states, eyes hardening to a glare.</p><p>She fists her hands into the opening of the blanket - holding it shut as she slides down the couch cushions to sit on the floor across from him. He stares bewilderingly.</p><p>”What are you doing…”</p><p>She shrugs, “I’m here, might as well help! That’s a lot of words to get through.”</p><p>He glares, “you should rest. Aren’t you exhausted?”</p><p>She returns that glare, “Aye, sleeping is a great idea after what jus’ happened! Lemme put you straight through hell again.”</p><p>A sigh, “it’s fine. I’ll redirect you if you start walking.”</p><p>She shakes her head and takes the first book off the stack, “nah, I’m helping. Too spooked to sleep anyway. You have another journal I could use? Maybe some caffeine so we don’t go passin’ out?”</p><p>A frown tugs at the corner of his mouth and she pastes a big grin on her own face in counter. His cheeks flame up again and she can’t help but find the color cute on him.</p><p>He stands, “Fine. Do whatever you want. I’ll find a notepad.”</p><p><br/>
</p><p>______</p><p><br/>
</p><p>A few hours pass with their noses in books, caffeine running through their blood, and amped up music (picked by Gloria, of course) to keep the energy level high… But by 3am she can see Bede’s struggling to stay awake. By 3:30 he’s slumped on the table with his head resting on-top of his folded arms. She doesn’t dare interrupt.</p><p>She shucks the blanket that only holds the warmth from where it had radiated off her body and stands - draping it over him instead. Nothing yet has stuck out at them from the books, some stuff about the mushrooms, some stories about the tangle… but nothing about possession or sleepwalking.</p><p>”I’m probably damn screwed.” She whispers to herself as she watches Bede’s still face - breathing steady. “Bet I’m dead in the woods next time I sleep.”</p><p>She shudders and steps away from her friend - perusing the various pictures and decorations filling the room to keep herself busy. She knows if she spends another minute looking at those books she may well end up conked out herself.</p><p><i>What a fate…</i>

</p><p>She’s rarely this negative and downhearted when faced with something new and unusual. A lack of sleep like this can turn anyone pessimistic though… Her vision starts to blur as she looks at a framed picture of Opal and what she believes to be her family hanging on the wall. She rubs at her eyes and her hand comes away wet.</p><p>
  <i>Something has to pull through… Eventually.</i>
</p><p>Bede makes a noise, almost like a whine in his sleep, and she spins to face him again. See’s him rubbing his head into his arm. His face is squished like he’s in pain and he mumbles something before stilling again.</p><p>She knows he’s just dreaming and yet she takes a step closer and voices: “What was that?”</p><p>”Third.” Is what he says in his sleep-drawled voice.</p><p><i>What the hell…</i> “What is that ‘spose to mean, Bede?”</p><p>No response this time and she sighs. Not like it meant anything at all, anyway. Some random words sputtered during a bad dream - she probably did it too. Could remember Hop saying random stuff during their sleepovers about custard flavored wooloo. <i>That</i> certainly hadn’t meant anything.</p><p>She sits down at the table again with a huff, checking her mug for any more coffee and pouting when she sees it’s empty. She eyes the books like they’re demons - before realizing they’d only gotten through two of the five… the <i>third</i> one is next.</p><p>She blinks, <i>is he dreaming about the books?</i></p><p>Precognition was certainly total tauros shite… and yet her hand still reaches for that third book. She sets it on its spine and lets it fall open, her mother’s words echoing in the back of her head that ‘books would always tell you what you needed to know if you were willing to listen’.</p><p>It’s a guide on the flora and fauna of the area - and she nearly chokes on her own breath when pictures of mushrooms show on the page the book settles on. It’s black and white, of course, these ancient books rarely had any color… but her eyes drift to one section in particular.</p><p>”Oh my god.” She whispers, then looking up to her sleeping friend and shouts far too loudly: “Bede!”</p><p>He startles, sitting upright fast and banging his knee on the underside of the table. A hissed swear and he rubs at his face, faint red lines appearing on his forehead and cheeks from the wrinkles of his sweater.</p><p>”What… What?!” He sputters angrily, blinking hard.</p><p>”Are you fuckin’ psychic?!” She continues shouting.</p><p>His face pales, eyes narrowing - “of all the heinous reasons to scream at me that's…”</p><p>She cuts him off and holds the book up to him, “look!! Finally found something!”</p><p><br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter Six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey! Have an off-schedule update so this will be done by the end of the week... rather than dragging out into next Tuesday.<br/>With that said, chapter eight is an epilogue. So chapter seven will be the big 'climax' of the story c:</p><p>Enjoy an extra long, extra emotional chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It is truly the crack of dawn when a knock at the door stirs Bede. His eyes feel weighted and burn at the brightness of the room, he doesn’t remember falling asleep. There’s a weight on his shoulder too and he glances down to see a head of brown hair resting on him, soft snores coming from the sleeping champ. <i>Must not have been out long if she’s still sleeping soundly.</i></p><p>Another knock, this one sounding more urgent, but he has no interest in moving. Doesn’t want to wake her, doesn’t want to let this moment end - can’t even coax himself to pretend he hates the invasion of personal space. It’s too damn sweet, too <i>damn</i> nice to have her against him like this.</p><p>”Gloria, are you alright?!?” Shouts Hop, his voice is muffled by the door yet it still grates on Bede’s ears.</p><p>With a quiet sigh he carefully maneuvers off the couch, doing his best to prop Gloria on the cushions and not wake her. Then heads for the door with a yawn, tugging it open to let in the one man stampede that is Hop.</p><p>He practically falls into the house, “where is she!” Like some feral pokemon.</p><p>”Sleeping in the living room.” Bede says with a reluctant wave in guidance.</p><p>”Gloria!” He roars as he runs into the room.</p><p>Bede rolls his eyes and says, mostly to himself: “I said she was sleeping, you moron.”</p><p>After the initial chaos of Gloria being rudely startled awake and rushed upright by her unruly friend, the freak out about her clothes and spending the night here with Bede, and her vanishing from home the night prior… She manages to force Hop to calm down and cooperate long enough to listen to their findings from the long night. She gets the guy to sit on the couch and shut up as she grabs the book from the coffee table, now marked in pen and highlighter.</p><p>A scientific name for the pink mushrooms, considered rare for the area. A warning for the toxic properties associated with their spores, how high dosages could cause poisoning in both pokemon and humans. How symptoms included inflammation, hallucinations, sleep walking, amnesia, and muscle rigidity.</p><p>How apparently the impidimp line was immune and adored the mushrooms, used them to play tricks on pokemon and trainers alike. How it was speculated the spores were used in rituals of some impidimp clans.</p><p>Whatever the hell that meant.</p><p>Answers. But no clear solutions. No antidote explained in the pages, save for the fact that it was believed there <i>may</i> be some plants with soothing properties.</p><p>But Gloria was clearly relieved to have found <i>anything at all</i>.</p><p>”Maybe we could bring this to your doctor!” Hop says, “think that could help?”</p><p>Gloria shrugs.</p><p>”I don’t think it would help.” Bede says from where he stands near the doorframe, “they’ll study the book but there aren’t any cures. I need to see if there’s another volume.”</p><p>”I can look at the libraries today!” Gloria says, eager.</p><p>Hop shakes his head, “no, you are going home to rest before your ma absolutely flips ‘er shite.”</p><p>”Wha-”</p><p>Bede speaks over her, “I was planning on going to look. I have time today.”</p><p>Gloria’s eyes narrow into a harsh glare at the wall, “both of ya, I’m not incapable of helping myself ya know! I’m not so fucked that I can’t do anything at all.”</p><p>”My, my; I never knew sweet little Gloria had such a sailor’s tongue.” Says a fourth voice.</p><p>Bede stiffens and turns to face the front door. His mentor, the same woman he’d so desperately tried to contact the past few days, stood there with her small suitcase. Smiling in that knowing way of hers.</p><p>”Miss Opal. You’re back.” He says, a tad breathless.</p><p>She wobbles into the living room, “yes, boy, I figured you may need my company after you made those incessant calls.”</p><p>He blanks, pulling on the expertly weaved mask for the woman before he can let his boiling irritation show. “You saw my calls, but didn’t answer them?”</p><p>”I was busy.” She says, matter-of-factly, as she sits in her chair. Either entirely oblivious or purposely toying with the knot of ire that’s now building in Bede’s gut. “Now… What have I missed? It appears there was quite a ruckus while I was away.”</p><p>Hop speaks up first, “Gloria is poisoned.”</p><p>”I fell into one of these mushrooms in the tangle.” She holds the book up to Opal and points at the dusty image. “And now I’m having all the symptoms of being poisoned.”</p><p><i>There she goes masking her accent again. Sheesh it’s so jarring.</i> Bede rubs at his mouth to hide the amused smirk on his face.</p><p>Opal stills, her face drooping as her eyes narrow. “Oh dear.” She pushes the book out of the way and grabs Gloria’s chin, scaring her quite a bit by the looks of it. Opal tilts the champ’s face to expose the massive rash, “you cannot be alone until we can take care of this, Gloria. You are in danger.”</p><p>”What?!” Hop shouts.</p><p>”Do you know something?” Bede says.</p><p>Gloria just swallows, widely staring at the old lady.</p><p>”There are flowers that grow in clusters in the tangle. They look similar to white lilies if I remember correctly. They can be used to create a salve that will heal you. Until we can get that… you are not allowed to leave this house.”</p><p>Gloria’s face goes ashen white, amplifying the ominous shade of the rash.</p><p>”What?! I was going to bring her home, can’t she stay there? Won’t that be safer?” Hop sputters.</p><p>”No, dear.” She will fight her way to the tangle no matter where she is. Best to keep her near to prevent any other issues from mindless wandering.”</p><p>”What do you mean…?” Gloria asks, her voice quiet as she pulls away from the woman’s grip.</p><p>Opal frowns, “you’ve been marked by the woods and it will stop at nothing to make you a part of it.”</p><p><br/>
</p><p>______</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Gloria makes a quick trip home, Hop glued to her side, to gather necessary things from home. Specifically her pokemon for extra security. Her mother is horrified and not a fan of the idea of her wounded daughter staying at some strange old lady’s house in the woods - but can’t object knowing the dangers if she were to stay home instead.</p><p>She returns to Ballonlea, to the cottage where she’s left alone after settling into her borrowed room. Opal taking over the remaining tasks with the art fair, Bede taking charge on hunting down those flowers. Hop wants to stay, but has so much to be done at the lab before his trip, and Bede is not interested in his company in the tangle… so he leaves reluctantly with a demand for updates from Gloria.</p><p>She huffs as she plops down on the same couch she’d spent the last night on. Opal’s weezing is hovering near the door - watching her every move. It’s been ordered to stop Gloria from leaving the house at all costs and she is just a bit afraid of what exactly the pokemon would <i>do</i> to stop her.</p><p>She certainly isn’t a fan of it’s eerie gaze.</p><p>”Ya dun’hafta goup at me the whole time, ye ken.” She says in direction of the pokemon.</p><p>It simply grins in response and a shiver shoots down her spine. She rubs at the goosebumps that break out on her neck.</p><p>It’s sure to be a long day… sitting here in someone else’s home just waiting for one of the two occupants to return. She feels <i>horrible</i> playing damsel in distress like this. She’s the <i>champion</i> for Palkia’s sake! She should be the one helping people, not the one being helped! She absolutely <i>hates</i> the fact that Bede is the one solving <i>her</i> problems - even if he’d seemed less than bothered with the task.</p><p><i>I owe him enough as is…</i>She sighs and falls back into the plush cushions, <i>he brought me into the hospital, vowed to help find answers to this mess, chased me through the woods after I fuckin’ hit him…</i></p><p>”Arceus, how I do I make this up to him now…”</p><p>He had looked so exhausted before he left, and it had totally been her fault. She’d kept him up then gone and <i>woke</i> him because she couldn’t keep her excitement to herself.</p><p>They’d never been particularly close. She’d been trying her damnedest to change that, visiting the fairy gym just to mess with him and see his face for a bit each week. It always ended with him annoyed enough to be a jerk but…</p><p>
  <i>Jeez, he’s not gonna want anything to do with me after this.</i>
</p><p>A knot works its way into her stomach, unpleasant and solid. She’d do everything she could to keep him close at this point - the <i>want</i> she has for his presence and companionship is strong enough that it almost startles her.</p><p>She stands abruptly, deciding she’d busy herself to keep the thoughts and strange feelings away. She pulls two members of her team out of her backpack - whimsicott and cinccino - and lets them out to keep her company.</p><p>They both cry out excitedly and hug on each other a bit before realizing they’re in a house - not out camping.</p><p>”We’re gonna clean.” She instructs the pokemon, so very excited to see her and be in a new environment. “Let’s make this place spotless for Opal and Bede.”</p><p><br/>
</p><p>______</p><p><br/>
</p><p>”Goodness, dear! Are you incapable of relaxing?!”</p><p>Gloria jogs out of the kitchen to greet the woman with a warm smile, her pokemon at her heels. “No, I really can’t. You’re being so kind, helping me out like this, I’d feel terrible just sitting around.”</p><p>Opal shakes her head, “even with a broken arm… What a lady you are.” She finds her way to her chair and sets her bag and jacket down. “Has the boy returned? It looks like it may rain…”</p><p>Gloria frowns, “no, I haven’t seen him. I could call though.”</p><p>”Oh don’t bother, best to not interrupt him or he’ll work himself into a flurry.” Opal says with a wave of her hand. “Come, sit with me and relax a bit!”</p><p>”Actually, I was thinking I could make dinner for you two. Would you mind?” Gloria asks.</p><p>Opal’s eyes widen. “Well, I could never say no to that!”</p><p>Gloria grins, “great, where are your pots?”</p><p><br/>
</p><p>______</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Bede finally returns to the house after the clock on his rotom phone hits 9pm. The rain had made it much more challenging to navigate the tangle and after trying his best to keep searching, he’d finally given up. He’d be out there again first thing in the morning, he would find those <i>fucking</i> flowers if it killed him.</p><p>It’s invitingly warm in the cottage, the familiar jingle of Opal’s night-time sitcom playing on the telly. He kicks off his mud-caked shoes, then abandons his completely soaked socks as well. Grimacing as they drip on the floorboards.</p><p>All he wants right now is a hot shower, fresh clothes, and bed. Doesn’t think he can handle facing Opal, and especially not Gloria, without any progress on that <i>life-saving</i> ingredient.</p><p>And yet, just as he’s about to start down the hall to the bathroom - Opal calls out to him.</p><p>”Hey, boy! Your dinner has been kept warm all this time, best you go thank that young lady for all her hard work.”</p><p>
  <i>What.</i>
</p><p>He swears his heart stopped beating.</p><p>Gloria appears through the doorway to the living room - shaking her head. “Don’t listen to her! There’s no rush or anythin’! When you’re ready to eat I have food for you.”</p><p>”You…” He can’t find any words.</p><p>”She made a lovely home cooked meal for us!” Opal shouts again.</p><p><i>Arceus, no, why would you do that....</i> He almost feels light-headed. <i>I’ve damn near killed you and you went and…</i></p><p>”It’s a thank you.” Gloria says with a shrug, “you’re both doing so much to help, dinner is hardly enough to make up for it.”</p><p>It feels like something is crawling up his throat - guilt, probably - but he’s certain he’s much more likely to be sick than anything else. He swallows the sensation and tries to bury away all the rising emotions.</p><p>”You should be resting, Gloria.” He says, means to snap, but his voice sounds weak and unsteady, even to his own ears.</p><p>She snorts, “would love to see it, honestly. Can’t sit still that long.”</p><p>He’s definitely going to be sick, “just… let me change first.”</p><p>”Sure thing! Meet me in the kitchen.” She says with this huge, sweet smile on her face before vanishing back into the living room.</p><p>He heads to his room in a bit of a daze, shuts the door quietly, and exhales as he slumps to the floor - pushing a hand through his wet mop of curls. <i>You’ve nothing to thank me for, Gloria.</i></p><p>She should hate him, or at least be angry with him. Why the <i>hell</i> isn’t she pissed?! He’s the biggest reason any of this shit had happened in the first place, now her life is at risk… and she goes and makes food? As a <i>thank you</i>?</p><p>Maybe she poisoned it. It was only fair at this point.</p><p>He groans and lets his head fall back against the door with a soft thud. <i>No one has ever made food for me.</i> Opal didn’t cook, and he certainly hadn’t had some exquisite childhood of home cooked meals - in fact, the thought of the food at the orphanage all those years ago nearly makes him gag.</p><p>He doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t think he deserves it for one… and had never once been put in this position either.</p><p>
  <i>Compose yourself. It’ll be fine. It’s just Gloria.</i>
</p><p>He pauses, then laughs at himself - rubbing at his face. “Right… <i>just</i> Gloria...”</p><p>A flash of light startles him, Hatterene appearing before him with narrowed eyes and a scowling mouth.</p><p><i>Dammit.</i> “I get it. I’m trying.” He huffs.</p><p>She’s practically growling as he picks himself off the ground and pulls clothes from his dresser. He dismisses her and it’s a bit of a challenge to get her to relax and return to her pokeball so he can change.</p><p>His hand falls on the doorknob, ready to face this challenge, when a pang of pain erupts in his chest and he squeezes his eyes closed against the feeling. Willing it to stop before it even begins.</p><p>
  <i>Just breathe, you moron.</i>
</p><p>Gloria is in the kitchen as she said, standing over the stove and laughing as her two pokemon take turns stirring a pot that’s absolutely seeping with rich, wonderful smells. His stomach growls in spite of his inner tantrum.</p><p>”You shouldn’t have done all this.” He says bluntly.</p><p>She spins and smiles, “I wanted to! I felt bad loafing about all day while you were busy trying to solve my problems for me.”</p><p>His jaw clenches, speaking before he can think better of it. “It’s only fair considering I’m the one who created those problems.”</p><p>She stills, smile falling away, lips parting and brows drawing together. Her warm-caramel eyes scan his face and he squirms a bit under the gaze, unable to make eye-contact.</p><p>”You don’t actually think that, do you?” She says in this soft tone that still gives away her blatant concern.</p><p>He’s already dug himself into a hole by mentioning it, no point in stopping now. “It was my pokemon’s attack that knocked you out, so yes, it is at least partially my fault. And <i>therefore</i> my responsibility to fix. It’s wasteful and mildly abusive of your time and effort to <i>praise</i> me for that with some elaborate meal.”</p><p>“Bede!” She shouts suddenly and he falls back a step, staring at her. Even her pokemon are startled by the sudden, harsh-sounding outburst and they hop down from the stove and vanish around the corner.</p><p>“<i>I’m</i> the one who caused this!” She yells, a breathy laugh dripping into her voice. “It was my barmy idea to fight you out there with a fuckin’ dragon that can’t control itself! Even still, I wouldn’t go callin’ this my fault either, it was an accident! It wasn’t <i>anyone’s</i> fault! Not mine, not Mjölner’s, not hatterene’s, and most <i>surely</i> not yours!”</p><p>It’s deafeningly silent for a moment as her eyes flicker over his stricken face, locking onto his glassy-looking magenta eyes, then a sigh eases through her lips and her voice softens. Sounding like a whisper in comparison, “please don’t blame yourself. You’ve been nothing but a godsend since it ‘appened.”</p><p>He blinks, feeling like his breath has been ripped from his lungs. Unable to speak</p><p>She hands him a plate with rolls and veggies, then fills a bowl with what looks like a hearty stew and hands it off as well. “Come on, let’s enjoy a meal together. You deserve it after all this. Especially thinkin’ you carry the blame.”</p><p>His gaze drops to the overflowing plates of warm food in his hands, the likes of which he’d only seen in shows and movies - the steam bathing his face and setting his mouth watering... </p><p>And all he can muster himself to say is: “thank you.”</p><p><br/>
</p><p>______</p><p><br/>
</p><p>A bang stirs Bede from his already light and broken sleep. He’s too tired and out of sorts to think anything of it, could hardly even comprehend it was such a loud noise that woke him. He simply rolls over in bed and attempts to get comfortable... Just as he’s starting to drift off again, his door opens.

</p><p>A voice thick with tears and trembling with fear blubbering out his name.</p><p><i>That’s</i> enough to get him to sit up and rub harshly at his bleary eyes, trying to make sense of the shadowed figure backlit by the hall light. All the sleep knocks out of his system as that figure morphs into Gloria - puffy eyed and lip wobbling as torrents of tears drip down her cheeks.</p><p>His ears are practically ringing from the shock of seeing her like this. Miss ‘stubborn-as-a-mudsdale’, unfazed by anything, Galar-saving-champion - now sobbing his doorframe at 3am.</p><p>”I-I… I jus’ want sleep.” She stumbles through the sobs. “Wh-Why does this keep ‘appenin’?” My team… woke me jus’ befo’ I tried ta jump out the window.”</p><p>She sniffles and rubs at her face with her good hand - coughing before borderline wailing: “I just want it to be over with, Bede!”</p><p>He stands, nerves buzzing with electricity - knows he shouldn’t be the one she’s coming to for help like this - and catches himself before telling her to ‘calm down’ like he tells himself so often. Maybe he isn’t so good with emotions but he knows better than to say <i>that</i> to another person, at the very least.</p><p>He tries his best to put himself in her place, to recall his own experience with such overwhelming feelings of helplessness - and remember what had helped him in those times of need.</p><p>The words of an old caretaker he scarcely even remembers the face of flow from his lips, tasting so foreign to him: “Gloria, take a deep breath. I know it’s scary now but everything will be okay.”</p><p>His voice is slow and soft and he waits for her to steady herself enough to take in a long, shaky breath and let it out slowly.</p><p>”We’ll get through it, I promise. You’re going to be okay.”</p><p>Another sniffle, “I’m jus’ so tired.” She says.</p><p>”You’ve been through a lot. You’ve every right to be scared out of your mind and exhausted.”</p><p>The sobs quiet a bit, though the tears don’t stop and she’s still hiccuping over her attempts at deep breaths. “I-I’m sorry for waking you again.”</p><p>He shakes his head hard, “don’t be. I’m here for you, Gloria. You’re not alone in this.”</p><p>Tears brim heavier in her lashes, turning her eyes into a glistening topaz, and she quickly closes the space between them - crashing into him in a one armed hug that nearly sends them both tumbling back into the bed.</p><p>He stiffens, reminding himself that to her, someone who had grown up enveloped in warmth, kindness, and love - touch was normal. Nothing like it was for him who’d both craved and feared it most of his life, only allowed it on his own terms lest that touch turn to trauma. He was the one who analyzed every little piece of contact he had with another person. Gloria was the one who gave out hugs, hand squeezes, and pats on the shoulder without a second thought.</p><p>For her, it was probably comforting. So he wrapped his arms around her and gently squeezed - ignoring the thunderous pound of his heart.</p><p>“Thank you.” She mumbles into his shirt, growing hot and damp with her tears. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”</p><p><br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter Seven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two full days pass with no luck finding those damn flowers. Two days of Gloria’s increasingly aggressive sleepwalking, of stress, of sleeplessness… Bede was growing desperate, was becoming convinced Opal had made it all up just to mess with them…</p>
<p>But as strange as she was - Opal was never cruel. And it would be beyond <i>cruel</i> to make up some cure for this mess and get their hopes up.</p>
<p>Daylight is fading and he’s become quite uncomfortable with being in the tangle once the evening hours begin. As badly as he wants to find those flowers and relieve Gloria of this <i>curse</i>, he also cannot stand being away from her once it’s dark. Has seen her doze off and start walking at night one too many times now.</p>
<p>So he heads back to the house empty handed - in a right foul mood as a result, and dreading what tonight would bring. His hand falls on the front door handle and something prickles inside him, a swell of sickening anxiety out of the blue. He swallows the creeping feeling at the back of his throat and opens the door.</p>
<p>It’s silent.</p>
<p>Of course his heart skips a beat, that bubbling uneasiness makes everything seem worse than it is… but Opal was clearly out doing - Arceus knows what, honestly - and Gloria was probably in the spare room.</p>
<p>His pace is a bit quicker than he’d like to admit and the twist in his stomach worsens when see’s the door wide open, the room empty.</p>
<p>“Okay…. Okay.” He huffs, pinching the bridge of his nose as his mind swirls with horrible thoughts. “Maybe Opal took her somewhere…” <i>don’t need to freak out yet.</i>.

</p><p>
  <i>A cry… pulling the marked one in.</i>
</p>
<p>He’s nearly running when he leaves the house - deciding to check the gym before anywhere else. The doors are wide open and there’s a handful of people inside continuing final preparations for their booths and art. His breath comes in heavy waves that shake his chest as his eyes fall on one of the gym trainers - she doesn’t even ask, just points to the field and worriedly states: ‘she’s in there’.</p>
<p>He wishes she’d been talking about Gloria.</p>
<p>“Miss Opal!” He heaves breathlessly as he rushes over to where she stands beside a large steel box in the center of the field. <i>Dammit I need to run more, to be so winded is pathetic.</i></p>
<p>“Goodness, what’s got you all worked up?” She questions.</p>
<p>”Gloria… She’s not at the house… Did she come with you?”</p>
<p>Worry works its way onto the woman’s face, “no, she was watching a movie when I left just about an hour ago. Are you sure she wasn’t in her room? Or using the restroom?”</p>
<p>Bede shakes his head, throat growing tight. “She wasn’t there.”</p>
<p>Opal hums, “Oh dear… We should probably get a search party together if we hope to stand a chance against those woods.”</p>
<p>Bede straightens, heart hammering. <i>No.</i> He can’t pretend that’s not where she is anymore, as much as he’d hoped it wasn’t the case. Of <i>course</i> it was. Of <i>course</i> she’s gone off again… <i>Why did I waste time running around like this?!</i></p>
<p>He starts backing towards the doors - “I’ll find her.” He tries to sound confident but his voice wavers. “S-she’ll be okay.”</p>
<p>A frown creases her face, “you do your best, boy. I’ll try to get her friend on the phone.”</p>
<p>He nods, then takes off for the tangle.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>______</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>“Gloria!!” He screams into the trees yet again, his throat aching and raw from all the yelling.</p>
<p>
  <i>How the fuck did I get here.</i>
</p>
<p>He remembers standing in his gym, wishing Gloria away once and for all… remembers all the effort he’d put forth trying to pry her out of his thoughts. How he’d been exhausted by the feelings she brought up in him and wanted to cut that budding attraction before it got any stronger. Wouldy do <i>anything</i> to be rid of her and the grip she had on him.</p>
<p>Now he’s crashing through the woods, frantic, borderline panicking as he searches for her. Pleading to the sky, to Arceus, to <i>anything</i> that she wasn’t gone - that he had a chance yet to save her. That he’d see even just a wisp of her through the snarled trees and faint glow from the mushrooms.</p>
<p>He couldn’t let her vanish. <i>Wouldn’t</i> allow it. <i>Is this karma? Is this what I get for wanting to be free of her?</i></p>
<p>It’s the exact <i>opposite</i> of what he wants now.</p>
<p>He stumbles up a muddy incline - the one area of the tangle he hadn’t yet parsed through on his quest to find the flowers. Knew it’d be too hard to get up such a steep grade when the ground was still soaked from that rain a few days ago…</p>
<p>But he hasn’t seen her anywhere else yet - and knowing his luck, she had somehow managed to get up in those hills beyond the village. The part of the woods <i>no one</i> ventured too.</p>
<p>So he climbs, trying his best to keep a grip when the ground keeps shifting under foot.</p>
<p>He braces himself on the trunk of a tree and huffs out a breath. It feels like there’s something grasping at his lungs - making it nearly impossible to breathe. His ears ringing with the sound of his heart pounding like a war drum.</p>
<p>
  <i>I shouldn’t have left her alone. Should have known this would happen…</i>
</p>
<p>Those stupid visions, the flashes of warnings and glimpses of what was to come - why hadn’t it kicked in today? Why wasn’t it helping <i>now</i>, when he needed it most? What good were these accursed psychic episodes if they couldn’t help him at a time like this?</p>
<p>A horrid thought springs to the front of his mind - telling him this is just his fate, to lose those he grows to love…</p>
<p>
  <i>Love</i>
</p>
<p>He should know already, but he’s been burying the feelings for so long… Her grin flashes behind his eyelids, the scent of the food she made him catching in his nose, the feel of her sobbing in his arms leaving him numb…</p>
<p>That spark of interest he’d felt before had morphed into this longing - this <i>need</i> to have her close.</p>
<p>
  <i>Yes. Why deny it any longer?! It’s pointless! I love her.</i>
</p>
<p>He stops again, breath catching and pain shooting through his chest. He grasps at his shirt and bends down, bracing elbows on knees - trying to ignore the chill shaking his spine.</p>
<p>”Not now.” He hisses to himself.</p>
<p><i>What a fucking tragedy.</i> But so very much par for the course for him - to realize he loves the woman who was possibly dead somewhere in these woods now. Slipped right through his fingers before he could even tell her. A victim from an accident he had been a part of, a victim from his inability to find a damn plant in time…</p>
<p>Dampness floods his eyes, the horror that’s slowed him to a pained, breathless stop pushing even harder on his shaking shoulders.</p>
<p>“No.” He bites out, forcing himself upright despite the pain radiating from his racing heart. <i>No giving up yet.</i></p>
<p>He would keep searching until every inch of the tangle was covered. Gloria was one of the most frustratingly stubborn people he knew and there was no way she’d go down without a massive fight. There has to be time yet… If he just keeps moving.</p>
<p>A soft cry from behind nearly makes him lose footing on the uneven ground - hatterene is watching him carefully, having slipped from her ball without his realization. He lets go of a trumbling breath and rubs at his face - the pokemon’s clawed hand jostling his hair as it coos.</p>
<p>“Think you could help?” He says, gently pushing the hand away, “we need to find Gloria.”</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>______</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>What feels like another hour of searching goes by, but according to his rotom phone it’s only been half that. He’s tired, and the tension still gripping his muscles makes everything ache - but he keeps pushing on. At the very least he’s managed to crest the worst of the incline and cane search the trees a bit easier. The foliage is a little less thick as well, tendrils of moonlight passing through the treetops every once in a while. He could do without the chill from the nearby mountains’ breeze, but some extra light to see was never a bad thing.</p>
<p>Hatterene is a good couple paces ahead of him when she freezes and cries out suddenly - her hand reaching into a bush and tugging out a familiar green hat.</p>
<p>His heart drops into his stomach as he catches up to her and takes the beret - the puff ball has fallen off, but the hat is otherwise fine. No tears of anything.</p>
<p>“She must be close, right?” He asks his pokemon, knowing she can’t possibly give any sort of validation… but her little nod and chipper sounding coo is still mildly reassuring.</p>
<p>He looks past the bush, searching for foot prints or any other trace of the champion. His heart is audible in his ears again, the pain in his sternum from the panic attack making itself known - but he still catches the subtle sound of a distant branch cracking, the rustle of leaves as something moves.</p>
<p>It’s enough, and he skirts around the bush - going straight towards where the sound came from. The hope he feels is probably damning, but he can’t let go of it. Another rustle to his left and he stops - noticing a thin trail through the sparse undergrowth, likely a path from some of the pokemon hiding up here.</p>
<p>A figure stands at the end of it, and once again his breath is ripped from his lungs.</p>
<p>“Gloria!” His voice is hoarse as he runs for her. “Hey! Wake up!”</p>
<p>She’s teetering at what looks like the entrance of a clearing. He skids to a stop just before crashing into her and grasps her shoulders - spinning her around to face him, admittedly a little to forcefully but he can’t help himself.</p>
<p>She struggles against his grip - eyes clouded again.</p>
<p>”Wake up!” He shouts, giving her shoulders a shake, “please!”

</p><p>She shouts back at him wordlessly and continues to try to break free from his grip. He tightens the hold he has on her shoulders and, against better judgement, pulls her flush against him in a hug.</p>
<p>“Enough, Gloria!” He says as she wiggles, “you need to wake up! We <i>need</i> to go home!” Moisture blurs his vision and he squeezes his eyes shut against it. There will be bruises on his chest from where her shoulders keep slamming against him, but he doesn’t care.</p>
<p>Finally, she starts to slow - then tension and rebellion seeping out of her small frame. He can hear a soft breath escape her as she goes limp in his arms - all her weight pressing into him.</p>
<p>”Bede…” she says in a soft, tired sounding voice.</p>
<p>Relief hits him like a hurricane and a sob nearly cracks through his composure as he rests his forehead against the top of her head.</p>
<p>She pushes away, not leaving the circle of his arms, and peers up at his face. Her eyes are clear, bagged, and worried - her lips twist into a frown. Her good hand drifting up and gently touching his cheek…</p>
<p>“Are you… crying?”</p>
<p>He doesn’t get a chance to respond - a massive roar cuts him off and Gloria falls into his chest again as they both look into the clearing.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>______</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>The first thing Bede notices is the white flowers filling the open space. They sway gently in that cold breeze, glittering like snow in the moonlight. Then the massive, ancient looking tree that’s littered with moss and pink, glowing mushrooms… <i>Then</i> his gaze falls on the beast growling at the ominously.</p>
<p>A grimmsnarl.</p>
<p>It’s huge, nearly double the size of Marnie’s most likely. It’s malice is palpable even across the field like this - eyes intent on them. Teeth bared.</p>
<p>Hatterene cries out loudly from behind the two huddled together at the edge of the path - the piercing notes shoot through Bede’s mind like a bullet. He winces and pulls a hand away from Gloria to press a fist to his forehead - that lazy fucking hindbrain finally throwing something at him:</p>
<p>
  <i>The forest calls for the marked one. Do not challenge it’s king.</i>
</p><p>
  <i></i>
</p>
<p>
  <i></i>
</p>
<p>“No.” He whispers impulsively as the pain fades and the voice grows silent.</p>
<p>“Wha-” Gloria starts, the word quickly cutting away with a shriek and she jumps away from Bede.</p>
<p>He’s shocked, but quickly realizes what startled her - a trio of impidimp circle her legs, dragging small pink claws on her ankles and laughing as she cringes at the touch.</p>
<p>“What’err ye daein’? Stop messin’ wi’ me!” She shouts, hopping between her feet which only make the pokemon laugh devilishly at her.</p>
<p>”Gloria, quit it.” Bede says, reaching out for her hand…</p>
<p>Just as his fingers brush hers the impidimp explode with growls, glaring at him and pushing their backs into Gloria. The grimmsnarl releases a roar that shakes the ground beneath their feet and Gloria teeters unsteadily. Face growing pale, eyes becoming distant.</p>
<p>”Hey!” He shouts at her.</p>
<p>She doesn’t reply, her mind is gone all over again. Eyes clouding over as the impidimp tug at her pant leg - pulling her into the clearing and closer to the growling beast. She follows their intentions like putty.</p>
<p>”Shit.” He bites out, <i>I need to take care of the grimmsnarl.</i> He pulls out more of his teams’ pokeballs in preparation - this would be no normal pokemon battle, he wouldn’t treat it as such with Gloria’s life on the line. “Hatterene… Do what I can, I trust you.”</p>
<p>The pokemon cries shrilly and charges forward - fixated solely on the massive beast. Bede lets the rest of his team out and provides the same instruction to most of them, save for mawile who he orders to scare off the impidimp surrounding Gloria.</p>
<p>Her massive jaws snap at the small pink pokemon repeatedly, distracting them as Bede grabs hold of Gloria’s arm and pulls her back to him. She doesn’t struggle this time but still has that distant, cloudy look - a blank expression on her face as she stares straight ahead.</p>
<p>It leaves him feeling sick.</p>
<p>His gaze falls to the flowers - they <i>must</i> be the ones he’s been looking for, the ones needed to make that salve. Opal hadn’t exactly explained how to create the stuff, but it shouldn’t be too complex.</p>
<p>Grimmsnarl’s roar cuts his thoughts and he looks up to see his pokemon are struggling to get the beast down. Anxiety pulses at the thought that four well-trained pokemon couldn’t bring a single opponent down… was this thing really some sort of king?&gt;/p&gt;

</p><p>In that second of hesitation on his part  the grimmsnarl manages to knock down gardevoir and charge towards Gloria and himself. Horror clutches his chest and his body moves before he can think, pulling the dazed champion against himself and shielding her from the pokemon with his back turned. A flash of light blinds him just before his eyes squeeze shut in anticipation of a hard hit - a louder roar exploding behind them and the sound of two pokemon colliding.</p>
<p>”Wh-what’s going on” Gloria’s voice - awake again.</p>
<p>He pushes her forward a few more paces away from the field before turning around, Gloria’s eyes lock on his face curiously before she looks to the field as well…</p>
<p>“Mjölner!” She shouts with a grin, “atta’boy!”</p>
<p>Haxorus is holding the grimmsnarl back with its tusks, a steady wall against the beast. He huffs loudly in response to his trainer before digging his claws into the dirt and slowly pushing the grimmsnarl backwards. It roars in frustration as it tries to push back, its tendril like hairs wrapping around the dragon’s face. Dirt and flowers are dug up under their feet amidst the battle.</p>
<p>”I didn’t think you have any pokemon with you.” Bede says, voice more breath than word.</p>
<p>”A’ve been keepin’ a’east one of em in mah pocket sin’ last time. Just in case.” Gloria beams.</p>
<p>Her stupid accent is stronger than ever at the moment, her positivity despite the grave-nature of the situation mildly concerning, but to him, it feels right… and he can’t help but smile as well.</p>
<p>They pair up, ordering both haxorus and Bede’s pokemon team to take down the grimmsnarl. With the dragon able to keep the thing mostly pinned in place it’s a much easier feat… and finally, <i>finally</i>, the beast starts to ease up - exhaustion clear in its sloppy attempts to deflect attacks.</p>
<p>After a good hit from dazzling gleam the beast drops, panting hard and struggling to get off the ground before roaring and limping off deeper into the woods - it's impidimp henchmen chasing after it with fearful shouts.</p>
<p>Bede crouches to the ground and let’s go of a massive sigh of relief, Gloria hopping in place excitedly - like this was some normal battle they’d just finished. It looks ridiculous considering she’d almost been lost to the woods…</p>
<p>
  <i>Oh well, at least she’s okay.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>______</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>To avoid the risk of running into any other issues on the trek back home, Bede searches up a basic method for making a salve and starts a small fire near the big tree. Gloria gathers the flowers with his mawile and sylveon following her about happily.</p>
<p>Combeewax, some water, and oil made from the flower. That’s all he needed… though he had no idea how to make the flowers into an oil he would try his best with what he had in his bag. <i>Thank ArceusI didn’t set anything down when I stopped at the house earlier.</i></p>
<p>Hatterene leans over his shoulder, crying out curiously.</p>
<p>“Maybe you can help with this too…” he mumbles, mostly to himself, as he sets a small jar atop the cooking stand. “You’re the witch pokemon, aren’t you? Isn’t this witchy stuff…”</p>
<p>Gloria’s boots come into his line of sight and he looks up to her - a soft smile on her lips and good hand full of the glistening flowers.</p>
<p>”You have what you need?” She questions.</p>
<p>”I think so… at least enough to try.”</p>
<p>She sets the flowers down beside his water canteen and the box of combeewax he usually used to polish his pokeballs. Gloria then sits beside him, close enough that he can faintly feel her thigh against his own. His heart reacts and the thoughts he had while searching for her are brought to the forefront of his mind again.</p>
<p>He wants to tell her. Doesn’t want to hide it anymore and would prefer to face rejection before the feelings got anymore intense than they were now… But he can’t bring himself to speak at the moment.</p>
<p>He grabs a few of the flowers, busying himself and analyzing the snow-white petals. Trying to figure out the best way to create an <i>oil</i> out of them… When hatterene cries out again and reaches for them with the tiny hands hidden behind her hair.</p>
<p>He happily hands them off, a wavering purple light enveloping them as hatterene takes hold. She hums in a way he’d never heard before pushing the flowers away - the light carries them to the small jar over the fire and they melt away into it. The jar filling with a clear liquid.</p>
<p>Bede’s jaw drops.</p>
<p>“Whoa! I didn’t know she could do that!” Gloria says.</p>
<p>“I didn’t either.” He says as he drops the combeewax into the jar, adds some water, and stirs the mixture with a stick he’d found near the base of the tree.</p>
<p>It bubbles and he sits back to watch it as it cooks. A weight presses on his side and the heat that rushes to his face nearly makes him dizzy.</p>
<p>”Thank you, Bede.” Gloria says softly, her head resting on his shoulder.</p>
<p>”Of course.” He mumbles.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>______</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>She’s drifted off to sleep by the time the salve has cooled and doesn’t burn at the touch. He jostles her a bit by moving now numb shoulder and she mumbles unintelligibly.</p>
<p>”Hey, it’s done.” He says.</p>
<p>”Hmmm… good.” She mutters, eyes still closed.</p>
<p>He sighs, “are you really going to continue sleeping? I’m not carrying you all the way back home you know.”</p>
<p>A smile twists her lips, “I’d love’ta see yer boney-ass try…”</p>
<p>He huffs and runs a finger along the salve, then pokes her face where the red still radiates. She winces, but still doesn't move or open her eyes.</p>
<p>“Gloria, come on.” He groans, “don’t tell me I have to put this on for you.”</p>
<p>“...please.” She mumbles and nestles closer to his side.</p>
<p>His chest constricts and another sigh escapes his lips. <i>Fine</i>. He takes a big glob of the salve and uses the back of his fingers to push her hair out of her face - then presses the stuff to her cheek and lets it sit for a moment. Laughs at the way she squirms and groans about the cold, gelatinous mass… then he finally rubs it  into her skin, delicate and slow.</p>
<p>He can see her practically deflate as it cools the rash she softly says: “thank you.”</p>
<p>He just hums in response, let’s his own eyes close for a second. He’s damn exhausted too, all the sleepless nights and stress, running through the woods in a panic… he can’t really blame her for wanting to sleep now.</p>
<p>At that thought he looks around… sees his pokemon all seated around the fire, mingling amongst themselves. Gloria’s haxorus is patrolling the border in watch for any further assaults. It had to be fairly late now, would it really matter if they napped for a short while in the field? With the pokemon there to watch he figures they should be safe enough.</p>
<p><i>Gloria</i>…. Totally zonked on his shoulder. He adjusts a bit and wraps an arm around her shoulders, careful to not stir her too much - then tugs his bag behind him and slowly lays down, head resting on the bag. Gloria frowns and squirms as she readjust, an arm wrapping around his torso before she stills again. He feels his breath catch and he squeezes his eyes shut - trying to will his heart to calm</p>
<p>It’s not the comfiest… but it’s better than trying to climb down that incline in the dark. Better than navigating the woods when they’re both exhausted.</p>
<p>
  <i>Better with her… right here with me.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>______</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter Eight - Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bede is happy to escape the cheery pop music blasting through the stadium speakers for the five minutes it takes to run to the back room. He understands why they host the art fair, even enjoys it a bit himself, it was always interesting to see what sort of stuff people around Galar created in their spare time… but the extreme <i>noisiness</i> of the event would forever annoy him to no end. He can still faintly hear the tune as he goes into storage and grabs another box of Opal’s atrocious knitting creations.</p>
<p>One of the most popular things sold at this event</p>
<p>He couldn’t believe how many people wanted to get their hands on the ex-fairy gym leader’s handmade scarves, sweaters, and hats… Let alone how much they would pay. Were they really that exciting?</p>
<p>He had about 3 of each bundled in his closet, so he was certainly a bit desensitized to the novelty.</p>
<p>After pausing a moment to revel in the <i>mostly</i> silent storage room, he carries the box back out to the stadium. It’s hardly recognizable as a gym field with all the banners, tapestries, booths, fairy lights… and what have you… covering the place. Not to mention the sheer amount of people bustling around. He works his way back to Opal’s booth near the center of the room, careful of the kids running around with fistfuls of fairy floss in their hands and screaming about the cute dolls at one artist’s booth. He drops the cardboard on top of the counter and struggles to hold back the sigh of irritation from the entire endeavor.</p>
<p>“Thank you, boy.” Opal says from where she reclines in the handmade rocking chair a woodworker down the way had gifted her earlier in the day. “That should be enough for now.”</p>
<p>”Good.” He says, heading around the back of the booth to take a seat in the stool near the cash box.</p>
<p>He takes a long drink of a water bottle before the tension fully slips from his frame and he leans on the counter, slowly unboxing the crafted creations and setting them out among the others still lingering on the table. His gaze falls back on the crowd, searching… He’d seen a few familiar faces throughout the day. Some of the other gym leaders… Sonia… even Leon.</p>
<p>But not <i>her</i> yet.</p>
<p>”Oh stop your fussing.” Opal says, as if she can read his mind, he turns to look at her. “She’ll show when she shows. You know she wouldn’t miss it for the world.”</p>
<p>His cheeks grow pink and he faces the crowd again, “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about, Miss Opal.”</p>
<p>She cackles, “oh, how funny you can be…”</p>
<p>He hasn’t seen or heard from Gloria in nearly a week… <i>well</i>... at least in person. She’d been roped into plenty of talk shows and interviews right after the events in the tangle - everyone in Galar curious why their champion had vanished so suddenly. He’d heard whispers in the crowd about her and some tournament shed just done two days prior to the art fair - something he sadly had not been able to watch live on TV at the time.</p>
<p>It was weird, seeing her but not <i>seeing</i> her like he had so many days in a row. He missed her… didn’t want to admit it at first, but was working on trying to let those emotions free rather than stuffing the feelings away.</p>
<p>He still has to <i>tell</i> her.</p>
<p>“I have an idea.” Opal says, breaking him from his daze. “Have you gone to meet the woman I invited from Alola yet? You really should.”</p>
<p>He leans back on the stool, “is that where you got off too?”</p>
<p>”Yes it is. I heard about an amazing artist out there and decided to take a trip. That darling Alolan champion and her boyfriend helped me to find the elusive artist. Her name’s Mina.”</p>
<p>He hums and goes back to watching the crowds, “okay, I’ll go look for her soon.”</p>
<p>”Go now.” She says with a feeble shove at his shoulder, “she’s also in charge of some fairy type trial out there. It’s a good opportunity to meet a peer. I won’t let you miss it.”</p>
<p>He sighs and shuts his eyes, <i>I’m tired of pushing through these crowds, though.</i> But between hordes of people and an annoyed Opal, he’d take the former. Any day.</p>
<p>”Alright, alright… <i>call</i> me if you need any help over here, okay?” He says with a narrow gaze on her.</p>
<p>She smiles, “oh, I’ll be fine. Go on now.”</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>______</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>Mina is… an interesting person, aloof, but interesting. Her art is gorgeous so Bede understands why Opal was so adamant about finding her… but the artist was hardly interested in discussing battle strategy and didn’t have much to say about this ‘trial’ of hers back in Alola. He knows heading back to the booth so quickly will only upset Opal, so he questions Mina on her paintings - trying to kill time… trying to focus on her elaborate descriptions and in-depth explanations on the techniques she used rather than the passing crowds.</p>
<p>He doesn’t really care, but has certainly mastered pasting on whatever expression was needed to suit his needs.</p>
<p>”Hey, Bede. You do all this? Great job.”</p>
<p>The voice breaks his focus and Mina pauses, Marnie passes a small wave to them both. A large crocheted morpeko stuffed in her arms.</p>
<p>”Hey.” He answers, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Yes. My efforts resulted in something exquisite, as expected.”</p>
<p>Marnie snorts, “sure, sure you egomaniac.” She glances over her shoulder, “ah… Gloria should catch up at some point.”</p>
<p>He stiffens, paralyzed for a moment as his heart pounds - but he quickly breaks free of the shock and looks in the direction Marnie had turned. Gloria was caught up in a knot of guests fawning over her, taking pictures and begging for signatures.</p>
<p>How she went anywhere without constant distractions like this was a right mystery.</p>
<p>Marnie starts chatting with Mina about her art, seemingly much more well-versed in the jargon than Bede would ever care to be. He takes the chance to step away from the two and head towards the swell of fair-goers busying the champion. He lingers towards the ends of the crowd, just watching as Gloria poses and answers the random questions… Her hair is back in those twin braids, her outfit more her usual style than it was with the busted arm - a skirt and fisherman’s sweater rather than loose shirts and sweatpants.</p>
<p>She looks beautiful to him either way, but it’s refreshing to see her in her usual dress again.</p>
<p>Her gaze fixes on him and she stutters in her response to a question, a blush blooming on her cheeks. A laugh rises to his lips and he covers it with the back of his hand - to think just the <i>sight</i> of him flustered her…? Maybe he’d have more luck with this confession than he’d thought.</p>
<p>”Ah… it’s been great meeting you all! I really need to get on now though!” Gloria says with a sheepish grin as she attempts to maneuver towards him. “Enjoy the fair!”</p>
<p>”You should invest in some social skills classes from Leon.” Bede says as she finally makes her way to his side.</p>
<p>Her bottom lip sticks out in a pout, “stuff it, I did fine.”</p>
<p>”If you say so.” He says, unable to hold back the grin pulling at his face. “I see you got the base off? All healed now?”</p>
<p>”Yup!” She rolls up the sleeve of her sweater to show off the black brace on her arm. “Fo’ the most part ah’least. So glad too, was really missin’ battlin’ an all.” That familiar flicker of challenge sparks in her warm eyes as she looks to him, “we still have to have our rematch, ya know.”</p>
<p>He lets out a short laugh, eyes rolling. “I know, Gloria. Not right now…” he shifts his weight a bit, trying to push through the hesitation blocking his throat. He can’t let himself wait any longer or he’ll go nuts. “Let me show you around.”</p>
<p>”S-sure!” She stumbles, “lemme ask Marnie! Bet she’d like it too.”</p>
<p><i>No.</i> He grabs her hand before she can run off to Mina’s booth. Shock plasters over her features.</p>
<p>”Just you… please.”</p>
<p>The blush that coats her cheeks brings another smirk to his face.</p>
<p>”Okay.” She answers.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>______</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>It’s a struggle to find a place not filled with people who recognized them both and would certainly spread rumors if they caught wind of the conversation Bede is planning. Even the break room is full with volunteers and booth workers catching a breath away from the crowds. They end up towards the center, near the large metal box that Opal had explained as some interactive piece…</p>
<p>
  <i>Maybe that will work?</i>
</p>
<p>There’s a short line and he guides her into it.</p>
<p>”What’s this then?” Gloria questions.</p>
<p>”Opal called it an infinity room. It’s a traveling piece that’s frequently set up in museums, apparently the artist adds a little something at each new location to make it related to the area.”</p>
<p>”Damn… you really did go hard this year. How long did it take to plan all this?”</p>
<p>”I started just before the last gym challenge ended.” He says with a clipped laugh.</p>
<p>Gloria’s eyes widen, “Arceus! Bet you can’t wait for a break, been one helluva off season.”</p>
<p>He shrugs, “I wouldn’t call it a break, I’ll go back to the normal training regiment. Still have a title to take for my own.”</p>
<p>Gloria just sticks her tongue out in response. It’s their turn to enter the exhibit and she leads the way, Bede a single pace behind. He shuts the door carefully, filling the mirror seamlessly and enclosing them in darkness. It remains pitch black for a moment until a soft light builds in tendrils around the mirrored space.</p>
<p>Gloria bursts out laughing.</p>
<p>There are string lights hanging like vines from hooks in the ceiling, the small orbs blinking with warm light - the thin wires wrapped with green and… Flowers. <i>The</i> flowers. Dozens of them, shining in the lights - reflected back a billion times over in the mirrors. The ones he’d searched the woods for up until that final moment.</p>
<p>He grits his teeth, “is this why I couldn’t find them.”</p>
<p>”It must be! They must’ve plucked them all.” Gloria sputters through her laughs.</p>
<p>”I hate it.” He snaps, glaring at the delicate white petals as if they’d committed this atrocity themselves.</p>
<p>It was just another reminder of how lucky they were.... That time was fleeting and someone could vanish in a matter of seconds. How important it is to cherish each and every moment… to never leave something unsaid lest the chances are forever lost…</p>
<p>He swallows, gut twisting with nerves as he searches for words - for the right way to do this.</p>
<p>
  <i>Arceus, how the fuck do I do this…</i>
</p>
<p>Gloria finally recovers from her laughing fit and wipes a stray tear from her eye. “It’s hilarious, you hafta admit. Pretty too, if you can forget the stress it caused.”</p>
<p>”I suppose it has a chaotic sort of beauty…” His gaze lingers in the mirror, watching Gloria’s infinite reflections as she toys with one of the light strands. A smirk tugs at his lips. “Like you.”

Her face flushes completely red and her jaw drops, “wh-wha…” she pauses and presses her palms to her cheeks, “th-thanks. Sheesh, what’s gotten into you, complimenting me like that…”</p>
<p>He reaches up to pull one of the flowers from the ceiling, twirls the stem in his fingers idly as he turns to face her completely. “Nothing, just incapable of burying my feelings any longer.”</p>
<p>Her eyes widen again, mouth parting as another series of startled questions arise… but she pauses completely as he takes a step closer - practically standing over her - and slides the stem of the flower behind her ear. The petals rest prettily against the curve of it and his hand drifts to gently cup her cheek.</p>
<p>Nerves force him to a stop again as he looks down at her. Pale face painted a warm pink with blush, freckles like constellations peeking through a sunset sky, eyes rich with the tones of the earth she was raised to tend - warm and comforting… Watching, waiting in a stunned silence.</p>
<p>Waiting for him… to finally make the move he’d been wanting to, <i>aching</i> to, for the past week. Yet here he is hesitating.</p>
<p><i>There’s no use waiting any longer.</i> He’d planned on just speaking his feelings, but with her face so close - so expectant - he can’t help himself. He swiftly presses his lips to hers, warmth crashing through his system as she meets him just as eagerly. His stomach flutters and skin explodes in goosebumps as an arm wraps around his torso, the other hand tangling into his curls. His hands settle onto her hips, impulsively tugging her close enough that their bodies are flush against each other.</p>
<p>When they part he can still taste her, her breath mingling on his lips - soft and sweet. Her hands drift to his chest where they ball into tight grips of his sweater.</p>
<p>”You had me fooled.” Gloria whispers.

</p><p>Bede hums, wrapping his arms around her waist completely - “what do you mean?”</p>
<p>“I was half convinced you’d ne’er wantae see me again after a’ that… I mean, a week a  silence was a bit jarring.” She says.</p>
<p>“Gloria!” He snaps, sobered by her words, “I… you… you were busy!”</p>
<p>She grins, “aye, so busy I couldn’t take a call from the guy who saved me life?”</p>
<p>He huffs out a sigh and rests his forehead against hers. The laugh she responds with dragging a smile onto his face again. “I wanted to see you. I missed you more than I care to say considering it was just a week… I just don’t know how to handle these things.”</p>
<p>”Handle wha? Reachin’ out to someone?”</p>
<p>”To someone I love? No.”</p>
<p>He leans away from her and nearly laughs at the stricken look on her face. “I’m horrible with these emotions, Gloria. I just know they’re present. Frustratingly so.”</p>
<p>The tension eases off her face and a soft laugh escapes her lips, she hugs him so tightly it feels like his ribs could crack. “I hope tha’s a good thing?” She says. “Even if it’s frustrating.”</p>
<p>”As long as you feel the same, and can be patient with me, it is.” He says through a strained exhale and is thankful when she releases the tight grip.</p>
<p>”Of course, Bede. Just be yerself, that’s the best anyone can do. An’ your wonderful the way you are. Sass and all. I love it, and I love you.”</p>
<p>It feels as though his chest has been stuffed, so warm and full it almost aches. “I love you…” His voice is a whisper, it’s a shock he’s even able to speak with how lulled he is by her response. “Thank you.”</p>
<p>She pops up on her tip-toes and presses a quick kiss into his lips. Bold to take the action but shy on the follow-through. Her lips linger close to her face as she speaks: “Get ready, I’mma annoy the absolute shite out of ye every chance I get.”</p>
<p>He chuckles, “Oh, I know. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”</p>
<p>
  <b>END</b>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks so much for reading!! I hope you all enjoyed this. It was so fun to work on, I  forgot how entertaining it is to write in the Pokémon world!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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